£829k boost to end rough sleeping
CASH WILL HELP SECURE ACCOMMODATION
A SCHEME aimed at ending rough sleeping across Greater Manchester has been given a £829,000 boost.
There are already more than 500 people signed up to the Social Impact Bond (SIB) and there has been such huge demand that bosses were forced to stop taking on new entrants.
The latest cash boost, which has come direct from the government, will help some of the region’s most entrenched rough sleepers with secure accommodation and ongoing targeted support.
So far the SIB has helped 109 people to find a home.
Salford mayor Paul Dennett, Greater Manchester Combined Authority’s portfolio lead for housing, homelessness and infrastructure, said: “This vital new funding is to be welcomed as we have worked hard to make the Social Impact Bond a success.
“People are engaged, the uptake is high and the retention rates are excellent, demonstrating just how well the scheme is helping people turn their lives around. However, there is so much more to do.
“Across the city-region we are coordinating our response to what is a humanitarian and systemic crisis; we are innovating and doing things differently and I restate the mayor of Greater Manchester’s pledge to end the need for rough sleeping here by 2020. “Whatever our challenges as a country, we are rich enough to put a roof over every head every night of the week in Greater Manchester.” The SIB is already funded by £1.8m of government money. But combined authority bosses sought further funding when the service reached capacity three months earlier than anticipated. Around 300 referrals were expected and bosses estimated a high drop-out rate but that didn’t happen. Instead more than 500 people from across the region’s 10 boroughs have been referred into the scheme since the end of last year. The new funding is expected to pay for more staff. Through the SIB, homeless people and rough sleepers are given accommodation and helped with employment, education or training and specialist support services. The SIB is part of Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham’s promise to end rough sleeping in Manchester. Individuals and businesses can donate to the Mayor’s Homelessness Fund via www.homelessfund.co.uk. Salford mayor Paul Dennett