Council secures funding to help combat rough sleeping in Fenland

The funding will help the Council and its partners to continue their work to end rough sleeping, from funding vital support workers and emergency accommodation to providing bespoke, targeted interventions towards a sustainment of a life away from the streets.

Now in its fifth year, the Rough Sleeping Initiative (RSI) has allocated funding to local authorities each year since 2018 to help prevent and reduce rough sleeping. Now it has provided funding for a three-year programme, from 2022 until 2025, to enable councils provide a more long-term strategy to ending rough sleeping.

The £1,186,208 of funding secured from the RSI 2022-2025 will be used in Fenland to fund the following initiatives:

• Funding for the continuation of vital support workers working from the Ferry Project's homelessness HUB in Wisbech.
• Continuation of the outreach support service provided by Change, Grow, Live (CGL), which works to encourage rough sleepers to engage.
• Continuation of tenancy sustainment support worker posts, who work in tandem with the CGL outreach team, HUB support workers and partners to provide hands-on support.
• Continuation of a mental health nurse post, which has provided invaluable support to those who are extremely vulnerable with complex needs and require urgent assistance.
• A new tenancy sustainment service to manage and maintain support to 10 new self-contained properties funded by the Ferry Project.
• Continuation of a rough sleeper co-ordinator post, who is responsible for monitoring homelessness approaches and progress with individual cases.
• Continuation of a Bespoke Interventions Fund to enable enhanced voluntary repatriation scheme to help those with restricted eligibility.
• A new Surge Fund to cover the costs of temporary accommodation during extreme weather.

Cllr Samantha Hoy, Fenland District Council's Cabinet Member for Housing, said: "Securing additional funding from the Rough Sleeping Initiative is crucial to supporting rough sleepers and those at risk of rough sleeping in Fenland, so we're delighted that our work to date has been recognised and that our bid was successful.

"Securing this funding for three years means we can build on the progress of recent years and move increasingly from a focus on intervention to supporting long-term recovery."

Homelessness Support

• Are you or is someone you know sleeping rough? Please let the Council know via the StreetLink website or StreetLink app - this will alert us and local outreach services.
• If you're worried about becoming homeless, contact the Council's homelessness team on 01354 654321, email housingadvice@fenland.gov.uk or complete an online referral.