Sarah was just 19, homeless, with a newborn baby and toddler but Framework helped her

first.

“We had to use a cool box and keep buying ice for this and with the added expense of fast food we had little money.”

After about three weeks, the family was moved to another hotel in Burton but this time the room had three radiators, which Sarah said was a luxury after the previous situation.

She said: “At least I could get the washing dry, even though it was still handwashing. But it was still very difficult to manage because there was nowhere for my youngest child to play and me and my partner found ourselves arguing all day which was not good for anyone.”

Then the family moved again after about a month, this time to a temporary flat with two bedrooms in Swadlincote, where they are waiting to find out if they have a council property to move into after being on the waiting list for almost two years.

Sarah is telling her story in support of the charity as a part of the Framework Winter Appeal 2020 Homeless to Home appeal, which runs until the end of January.

At no point is she complaining about the things that have happened to her but she admits she would not have known what to do or where to go for help if it had not been for Framework.

Sarah said: “Originally, we were living in a cramped box room and there were pet dogs running around which was worrying with the children. But we were forced to move from there.

“Being at the Travelodge and in a hotel room elsewhere for about seven weeks seemed much longer and to move into this flat temporarily has given us more room and more equipment to cope.

“You never imagine these things will happen but my eldest child is now much happier and can run around more. I can’t begin to imagine what would have happened to us without help – you don’t expect to be in this sort of position. I am very grateful for the help.”

Louisa, who is Sarah’s support worker, explained that although the family is in a bigger flat now, there are still problems. She said: “There are limited funds available to help people set up home and any that Sarah is entitled to needs to be saved for the council house they hoping to eventually get.

“So the place they are in now could really do with improving but we don’t want to waste money on it. However, she is better equipped with basic equipment, such as a tumble dryer, after I put out an appeal on her behalf on social media and got around 100 people responding.

“Sarah has really been struggling for the past few months and who wouldn’t with the responsibilities that she has. Fingers crossed they will be successful with their council house bid in the near future.”

Framework Framework, which also operates in Lin Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire and South Yorkshire, is hoping to end homelessness by tackling rough sleeping at an early stage.

The appeal is looking to raise funds for the work to prevent rough sleeping by intervening, supporting rough sleepers through street outreach teams and resettling people into long-term secure accommodation and equipping them with skills and extra help to maintain stable independent lives.

Like many charities, income has drastically decreased because of the coronavirus pandemic but expenditure is rising and the demand for services has never been higher, as people lose their jobs and homes.

Framework is commissioned to work with young people who are homeless or in housing need in South Derbyshire, Amber Valley, Erewash, and parts of Derbyshire Dales.

At any one time, Framework supports about 80 young people in accommodation services and living in the community through its Step Up Service. From April 2019 to March 2020, it supported 103 young people in accommodation and 124 in float

ing support services in the community community.

Alison Legg, is Step Up services manager and said many young people had been particularly hard hit by the coronavirus pandemic, with many staff noticing a rise in mental health problems after young people were furloughed and others lost their jobs.

She said: “We mainly deal with young people aged 16 to 25. The under-18s are referred to us and funded by Derbyshire County Council. The older age range can self-refer or be referred to us by a number of agencies which we work with.

“We have small units in Swadlincote and Long Eaton and 26 other units dispersed across the county in South Derbyshire, Erewash and Amber Valley.”

Framework also works with Adullam Homes Housing Association, which provides accommodation for people in the Chesterfield, High Peak and North-east Derbyshire.

Alison said: “We are able to make sure that we prevent young people from ending up on the streets with nowhere to go – many of them are likely to be sofa-surfing when we first see them but that could be at the expense of being exploited, financially or physically, in exchange for somewhere to sleep for the night.

“Sometimes not being able to handle money can put them at risk of losing tenancies but we can put them in touch with many services such as GPS, mental health, financial and council.

“The Covid-19 situation has not helped because young people who were already isolated have found themselves even more isolated.”

Andrew Redfern, Framework chief executive, said the charity had to adapt to working with the pandemic in place because the work could not stop.

He said: “We have managed to continuing housing the 2,500 people across Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire. There is a new cohort on the streets because of relationship breakdowns and job losses in the past few months but they do have less complex needs. We want to get these back on track before their situations deteriorate.

“For example on any one night in Nottingham, there are up to 25 people sleeping rough and in Lincoln it is up to 15 people, with two thirds of them from the new cohort. But we don’t have a street outreach team working in Derbyshire.

“Money from the appeal will be used to do things which local authorities don’t commission us to do. We want to do things such as provide for people who do not have recourse to public funds, or people who have drug or alcohol dependence or need life skills training, which we might not be commissioned to do by local authorities.

To do what it wants to do, Framework would ideally like an extra £500,000 a year to be divided between Derbyshire, Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire.

Currently, the charity houses about 1,000 people in Nottingham and receives up to £1.9 million funding annually; in Lincolnshire, it houses up to 400 people using £900,000 a year and in Derbyshire, 50 people using £90,000.

Andrew said: “We would like to do more in Derbyshire and develop a street outreach programme there as well and to be able to provide frontline accommodation in Derby and Chesterfield. We would love to raise as much as possible and previously have managed to raise about £60,000 at this time of the year and we would hope to exceed it.

“Our aspiration is to get rid of rough sleeping entirely. In order to do that, we have to respond to the whole of people’s needs. There needs to be a resettlement plan and we must identify those people we are not working with yet, such as those without a statutory right to housing and examining those things that are not being done for homeless people currently.”

Natalie Fahy, editor of Derbyshire Live, Nottinghamshire Live, and Lincolnshire Live, said: “For the last couple of years we have worked closely with Framework and our readers have helped us raise tens of thousands of pounds in that time.

“This year is no different and it is, if anything, even more vital that we continue to help some of the most vulnerable people in our community amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

“Homelessness is an issue that is evidently close to our readers’ hearts, as it is with ours, so hopefully you will respond to the campaign and donate whatever you can to help those who require it most.”