Work to continue tackling homelessness and rough sleeping in Cambridge is set to be boosted through grants to 11 local charities and organisations from Cambridge City Council.

Subject to approval of the council’s budget in February, £307,845 will be provided by the council in Homelessness Prevention Grants, which will go to a variety of voluntary and community groups working on projects tackling all forms of homelessness in Cambridge.

The groups set to receive funding for 2024-25 are:

• Cambridge and District Citizens Advice Bureau for independent support, advice and representation around housing and debt issues
• Cambridge Cyrenians to help people over 45 access and maintain move-on accommodation; and supported housing for single homeless people
• CHS Group (The Cambridge Housing Society Ltd) for employment advice and coaching for homeless or vulnerably housed adults and young people, plus supported housing for eight young homeless families
• Cambridge Women’s Aid – advice, advocacy, support and safe accommodation for women and children who have been victims of domestic abuse
• Cambridge Women’s Resources Centre for employment of a support worker two days a week to work on homelessness prevention
• Cambridgeshire Community Foundation for the administration of the Cambridge Street Aid fund
• Centre 33 for a homeless and housing support service for 13 to 25-year-olds
• Hope Into Action UK for costs to support single men and women and a family living in three different homes
• It Takes A City, including to develop new solutions to complement existing homelessness services and provide all-round support to rough sleepers in private accommodation
• Jimmy’s Cambridge to provide support for occupants of 22 modular homes
• Wintercomfort for the Homeless for activities to increase people’s confidence, skills and employability

Total bids for funding came to £441,201 so not all of them could be afforded in full. However, all bids were approved for at least part of the funding requested. When making assessments of bids, consideration was given to the strategic and operational value of proposed services, and whether they were thought to duplicate or overlap with other existing services.

In addition to the £307,845 in funding, £50,000 has already been set aside as winter provision for rough sleepers in 2024-25, which was approved last year as part of a three-year contract.

The total funding of more than £357,000 from the council for homelessness prevention grants and winter provision in Cambridge is a £32,000 increase on the previous year’s funding.

The homelessness prevention grants programmes form part of wider work by the council and partners in Cambridge to help people find and sustain accommodation, and to access the support they need to leave homelessness and rough sleeping behind them.

The council’s Single Homelessness Service aims to help people at risk of sleeping rough find stable accommodation and help with settling in, continued support and paying rent. The Town Hall Lettings Scheme allows people threatened with homelessness, and who have connections to Cambridge, to find shared, self-contained or family accommodation.

The council also has a service called Team Around A Person, which works to build trusting relationships with repeat rough sleepers, in order to provide personalised support through individual plans, including for issues like mental ill-health or drug or alcohol dependency.

An offer of support is there for all rough sleepers once they have been verified by the local Street Outreach Team and they are ready to access it. Services are available free thanks to the network of organisations who form the Streets to Homes service in the city.

Cllr Gerri Bird, Executive Councillor for Housing and Homelessness, said: “The grants that the council gives each year help fund some of the ongoing and vital work done by the partnership of organisations across Cambridge to relieve some of the most vulnerable members of our community from rough sleeping and the threat of homelessness.

“This funding will go to very good use, from assisting people in emergency situations, to providing help and support for people with complex issues, and ultimately to help people put their difficulties behind them and move on with their lives.”

There are many ways residents can help rough sleepers including:

1. Reporting if someone is sleeping rough via Streetlink by calling 0300 500 0914 or visiting www.streetlink.org.uk
2. Donating to Cambridge Street Aid, the charitable fund helping people to get off, and stay off, the streets. This can be done via one of the many contactless giving points in the city or via the online giving page: www.justgiving.com/campaigns/charity/cambridgeshirecommunity/csa
3. Visiting the Street Support website for further details of the services operating in the city: https://streetsupport.net/cambridge/

Finding out more about the help available in the city for single homeless people and people sleeping rough at www.cambridge.gov.uk/services-for-rough-sleepers