Alleviating poverty, bringing hope
Menu

NOAH Wins Funding

NOAH Enterprise, the agency of choice when it comes to working with homeless people and those deeply entrenched, has been awarded £183,799 to help get rough sleepers off the streets across Bedfordshire, into secure accommodation and onto the pathway towards a better quality of life and independence.

street link logoThe funding follows the launch of Streetlink, a new hotline and website which enables concerned members of the public to help connect a rough sleeper with local advice and services. This new grant will help NOAH Enterprise deliver the Streetlink promise to provide the first step towards connecting rough sleepers with the support available to them.

This is the third grant NOAH has received from government to provide support to people suffering severe multiple disadvantage including rough sleepers, those who are deeply entrenched and those who are homeless.

This particular grant gives us the opportunity to expand our proven work in Luton to Bedfordshire and at the same time help local authorities deliver the No Second Night Out initiative.

Welcoming the grant, Jim O’Connor, Chief Executive of NOAH Enterprise said: “This grant is significant in a number of ways, primarily in enabling us to extend into the whole of Bedfordshire our work with rough sleepers and those deeply entrenched. It is a welcome opportunity to work closely with other local agencies in helping ensure no one in the county spends a second night out on the streets.

“The economic climate has put extra pressure on low-cost private, social and supported accommodation in Bedfordshire, and the night shelter has been running at 97% capacity.

“The grant will fund additional outreach workers who can respond to reports from the public and other agencies. They will find and accompany rough sleepers to the nearest facility, where they will be able to carry out a needs assessment and help them find suitable accommodation as well as any support services that they may require.”

Administered by umbrella organisation Homeless Link and funded by the Department for Communities and Local Government, the grant is part of £3,600,000 being awarded to 22 areas by the Homelessness Transition Fund which was set up to help support the Government’s rough sleeping strategy ‘Vision to end rough sleeping: No Second Night Out nationwide’.

People can take action to help rough sleepers in Bedfordshire at www.streetlink.org.uk or by calling 0300 500 0914.

Download this press release here >>