Huntingdonshire District Council, in partnership with East and South Cambridgeshire District Councils, has successfully bid for funding from the government’s Rough Sleeping Initiative, to continue with the Street Outreach Service covering the three districts’ areas. The service was established with the charity P3 and launched in December 2019 as a twelve-month pilot.
The charity works with individuals to provide intensive support, with the aim of finding appropriate solutions to break the cycle of rough sleeping. The allocation of £36,000 from the latest government bid round will allow the pilot to continue until April 2021.
Executive Councillor for Housing and Economic Development, Ryan Fuller, said: "I’m delighted to announce the additional funding to extend the pilot period. Although Huntingdonshire has relatively few rough sleepers, we are determined to help and support those people that find themselves with no other option but to sleep on the streets. This funding will allow an extension to our Street Outreach pilot, supporting some of the most vulnerable people in our communities.
Rough sleeping is often the result of several things in a person’s life all coming to a crisis point and the service looks at helping people access more than just housing – from appropriate health services to training opportunities that may help someone back into work."
The outcomes and successes achieved will be reviewed and evaluated by the three councils to help inform what future services are required after this pilot period.
Government has set a national target to halve rough sleeping in the period of this Parliament and to end it for good by 2027.