City of Wolverhampton Council and partners have successfully put in place 3 new workers to help tackle homelessness in the city.

Their roles will be funded from part of an initial £138,000 grant awarded by the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government in June.

The news comes on World Homeless Day (Wednesday 10 October), helping to highlight the work and role of the Rough Sleeping Operational Group, which includes council partners P3, Wolverhampton Homes, St George's Hub, the Refugee and Migrant Centre (RMC), and Good Shepherd Ministry.

Two Outreach workers have been appointed who will work with individuals on the street, getting them into accommodation, into treatment, claiming benefits and supporting them to engage with additional services.

An Inreach support worker will help former rough sleepers in their own home - offering tenancy sustainment to reduce the risk of them losing their accommodation. This work will be carried out across 20 properties.

Councillor Peter Bilson, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for City Assets and Housing, said: "The council continues to actively work with its partner agencies to find longer term solutions for preventing rough sleeping in the city.

"We particularly focus our efforts on preventing someone from becoming homeless in the first place and work closely with our partner agencies such as P3, Housing Outreach teams and colleagues providing money advice, to find solutions for people threatened with homelessness, and ensure support is available for those who are unable to maintain their tenancy for whatever reason.

"We have also developed a new 'Rent with Confidence' framework and approach which gives people information about the standard of and management of the private accommodation they move into and helps the council to identify suitable properties which help to end or prevent individuals' homelessness in the future.

"The extra funding is enabling us to broaden this work and make even more of a real difference to reducing homelessness in the city."

  • released: Wednesday 10 October, 2018