Funding ‘up in the air’ as homeless figures soar
BEAT THE STREETS HELPS PAY FOR FLATS FOR CITY ROUGH SLEEPERS
FUNDING to help rough sleepers in Nottingham is said to be “up in the air” despite a key charity in the city recording record levels of people on the streets.
Framework, which regularly produces a count of rough sleepers in the city, recorded a 900 people on the streets last year.
A 19 percent year-on-year increase is currently being recorded, with 55 people sleeping rough in April.
Key to bringing numbers down is moving homeless people into permanent accommodation, with a block of eight flats having just opened in Hyson Green.
The block is called Akins House after George (jnr) and Sean Akins, directors of DHP Family, which organises the annual Beat The Streets festival.
Since its inception in 2018, Beat The Streets has raised nearly half a million pounds for Framework.
Most recently, the money saved key roles in Framework’s street outreach team that could otherwise have been lost due to Nottingham City Council cuts. Speaking at the official opening of Akins House on Monday, Framework deputy chief executive Claire Mcgonigle said: “It’s probably the most challenging environment I’ve worked in for 20 years. There are so many competing needs and the scale and level of need that people are presenting with is so much more complicated as well than it has been over the years.
“Everything is really up in the air at the moment... [Government] recognised that with the last round of rough sleeping initiative funding in that they settled for three years, which did at least enable us to make some plans around how money would be used. But even that in a cost-of-living crisis and at a time when inflationary pressures are really high is challenging because what you thought you could do three years ago, the money doesn’t quite cover any more.
“The sooner we get on to a stable footing in terms of what the policy position is, where we’re going, what the agenda is, what the priorities are – whichever party is in government – then we can start to respond to make best use of what resources are available.”
Last year’s Beat The Streets raised £89,500 which, alongside Government funding, was essential to the £1.4 million cost of Akins House, in Birkin Avenue near the Mary Potter Centre. Work began last summer and the flats will be occupied in the coming days, offering permanent homes alongside drug, alcohol and mental health support.
George Akins said: “When we started in 2018, we always felt that what we could raise was never going to be enough, we would have to do it every year. That was always the case.
“It’s hard to determine how attitudes are changing. It’s about understanding that the support is needed and more is needed than is being done at the moment. It’s tough out there and we’re just trying to do our bit.”
Fundraising by Tesco has also meant that residents of Akins House will receive a welcome hamper and kitchen essentials.
Ms Mcgonigle added: “Everyone’s got their own front door, which means they can keep themselves safe. They can take the time that they need to recover from whatever the situation was that saw them find themselves homeless in the first place.”