Providing safe and secure homes for homeless people
Providing safe and secure homes for homeless people
This year Great Places joined other housing providers to offer homes as part of the Government backed UK-wide investment programme to create dedicated housing to help rough sleepers to rebuild their lives away from the streets.
As part of the £212m Rough Sleeping Accommodation Programme our Affordable Development and Investment Teams worked with Greater Manchester Combined Authority, Manchester City Council and Salford City Council to make nine homes available from our existing and newly built stock. 324 people with complex multiple needs are on the programme.
The homes will enable people who sleep rough, or at risk of sleeping rough, to be rehoused in secure, long-term accommodation. The programme is the largest-ever investment in longer-term accommodation for rough sleepers, with 6,000 homes pledged as part of the government’s mission to end rough sleeping once and for all.
The Greater Manchester Housing First pilot won 'Housing Team of the Year' award at the at the Chartered Institute of Housing Northern Housing Awards ceremony in November 2021 beating strong competition from a shortlist of eight other organisations. The pilot has now supported 300 people into a safe and secure home of their own.
Programme Lead Martine Whitehead said: “It’s fantastic to win the award but more importantly to showcase the amazing work of colleagues and the wider partnership.
Mike Hughes, GMHF Project Manager, added:
"We are so chuffed to have won and to have shared our success with the team was an amazing experience. It's a testament to the hard work of so many people across Greater Manchester as together, we are making a difference."
House to Home Project
We have continued to supply a range of items to help new, often more vulnerable customers make the best possible start in their new home. So far over 70 households have been supported:
"I was homeless for over a year. My priority was to have a roof over my head, I have been crashing at friends/family and I have had to borrow a little oven until mine came. I also had to prioritise getting a bed as I didn’t have a mattress when I moved in. It has been a massive help although I didn’t know when the delivery was going to be and I was out the first time they tried to deliver it all."
"Was given a number of goods for free, which as a young person has helped massively. Got more than thought like bedding, crockery and towels."