As you may know, our vision is for everyone to have a safe place to call home and the support they need. As a UK homelessness Charity, our goal is that homelessness is prevented and when it does occur, people receive the best possible support that enables them to secure and keep a safe place to live.
We know that homelessness is a problem that can be overcome. We know that people can find themselves in difficult situations and that, together, we can help them find a way out. Our supporters and frontline staff across the UK have shown that this is possible this year.
Some highlights from this year include: being able to temporarily increase our maximum grants for accessing accommodation from £500 to £1,000 between December 2021 and March 2022 thanks to our generous donors, and investing in frontline service delivery in all four nations of the UK for the first time through the Frontline Fund. Your support made this possible – thank you so much.
We are also embarking on a new strategy, that focuses on three key areas.
- Evidence-led funding: Investing in the most effective solutions that prevent people becoming homeless and support people to access a safe place to call home.
- Effectiveness: Supporting frontline workers with the knowledge and skills needed to provide the best possible support to people experiencing homelessness.
- Influence: Working with the public and decision makers to better understand how homelessness happens and what solutions work to address it.
Our Year in Review report offers a closer look at our activities, and all that you have helped us to achieve. To read the full report, please click here. For now, here are some highlights:
This year…
- We awarded 4,582 grants, totalling £1,820,134 and supporting 7,183 people…
- We gave out the most grants in the North West (17%). Most commonly we supported single men (46%). People were more likely to have mental health as a support need (68%)…
- Our Frontline Network worked with 12 partners across the UK who provided regular opportunities for frontline staff in their areas to come together, share knowledge and effect changes…
- We provided £38,017 in funding to enable frontline workers to undertake 43 individual / group trainings, on subjects as diverse as trauma-informed practice, resilience and substance misuse awareness…
- We hosted 10 national events bringing together frontline staff, including training events covering topics such as accessing Universal Credit and best practice for supporting LGBTQ+ young people facing homelessness…
- We launched three new Local Networks: a new thematic network focusing on women’s experiences of homelessness in Leeds, a new partner to facilitate our existing South Yorkshire Frontline Network and our first Northern Ireland Frontline Network…
- We provided a total of £800,000 to support the Connection at St Martin’s work across a variety of work programmes…
- We made £1.5 million available over three years to fund organisations which support our vision of everyone having a safe place to call home and the support they need. These organisations are spread across the four nations…