Housing Practice
For more than 50 years, the Fry Housing Trust has provided supported accommodation and floating support services to the homeless and vulnerable who been sanctioned, or at risk of sanction, by the criminal justice system. The Trust works across the West Midlands, Worcestershire and Warwickshire.
Help with the following is offered:
- Budgeting money, claiming benefits and managing debt
- Finding independent accommodation
- Setting up a home, new utility accounts and payment plans
- Assisting with organising grants for furniture or collection arrangements of donated items when available
- Independent living skills and cooking skills
With centres in Keighly and Bradford, Keyhouse works to address housing issues for the most socially excluded. They work with homeless families, young people and teenage parents.
It is not only advice on housing that is offered, Keyhouse was part of the setting up an allotment project. Working with service users, they provided plants for the silver medal winning homelessness garden at the Chelsea Flower Show, and they also work with a range of organisations to provide expertise on growing fruit and vegetables.
As well as a project for learning new skills, they are now planning to help service users apply their new found horticultural knowledge to produce cheap and healthy food for their own dinner tables.
The Petrus Community provides supported housing and related services to homeless people throughout the Borough of Rochdale, including Rochdale South and Middleton.
Petrus provides residential and day support services for people in housing and assists them to develop their skills and independence. They recognise that is is likely that, at some time, the service users will need support in relation to drugs, alcohol, physical and mental health, and domestic violence.
We're Broadway and we say no one should be homeless.
We go straight to the causes of homelessness, tackling poverty, ill health, unemployment and the chronic lack of housing. We challenge people to take control of their futures and give them the tools and support to do so. We help thousands of people every year to change their lives.
Homelessness is complicated. It's difficult. The people we help have complex lives and there's rarely a simple or quick solution - but we don't give up. We believe that with the right help at the right time, every person can turn their life around - whatever their circumstances.
We work hard to fit our services around what the person needs and if something doesn't work we'll think again. We're known for our risk-taking and initiative, and for leading the way for everyone working to end homelessness.
Our work isn't glamorous, but it's real, based on evidence, and it matters. We are making a lasting difference.
At Porchlight, we are one of the foremost charities supporting vulnerable and homeless people in Kent and Medway. We have supported accommodation services in Ashford, Canterbury, Dover, Margate, Ramsgate and Tonbridge, a homelessness prevention service and a dedicated rough sleeper team. We provide a range of services supporting people with complex needs, with specialist services for young people, those caught up in the criminal justice system and people with enduring mental health issues.
Homelessness can happen to anyone, at any time and for a variety of different reasons. The people we help tell us that being forced to sleep rough, facing the threat of eviction or living in poor condition is frightening, degrading and soul destroying. Our services are at the heart of the community, providing people with the stable base, skills and confidence they need to live independently and become included in society. Porchlight has supported accommodation services, a homelessness prevention service and a dedicated rough sleeper team.
Photograph provided by Porchlight
Amber provides temporary homes at their centres for young people who may be unemployed, homeless, have a history of addiction, and may have also been involved in crime or served a prison sentence. They offer round the clock care, and work hard in encouraging and assisting individuals in overcoming obstacles or issues that have previously prevented them from living a normal, independent life. This includes offering counselling, literacy and numeracy courses, vocational training, work experience and confidence building to those in need.
Amber aims to assist vulnerable, disadvantaged young people in achieving a better future by providing a safe, supportive environment and placing significant emphasis upon the importance of enthusiasm, committment and determination.
The Mustard Tree is committed to providing support for the homeless, marginalised and vulnerable across Greater Manchester. It serves these communities through the provision of food, clothing, furniture and training. The aim is not only to improve live for the deprived communities in the area but also to work to care for the environment through continual re-use and recycling of resources for the benefit of those in need.
Employment training and mentoring courses are run for 20 weeks, with 16 weeks followed by a 4 week placement with one of their partner employers.
On the first Wednesday of every month local artists and musicians and come to the Mustard Tree to perform and mix with the group.
Re-Unite is a housing project for women who have a reasonable chance of being reunited with their children on release from prison. They work with the mothers together with various support, and governmental agencies to ensure that women and their children are placed together in safe and secure accommodation, allowing them to prepare for fully independent living for up to a year after they are released from prison.
Poverty, abuse and neglect during childhood cause severe emotional damage in young people, who turn to drugs and crime to escape their feelings of anger, fear and guilt. The Nehemiah Supported Housing Programme means that vulnerable men who are recovering addicts, homeless and/or are ex-offenders can be supported emotionally and physically to become empowered to live independent lives out in the community. The programme aims to bridge the gap between prison and independent living for ex-offenders. The transfer from custody to community is a critical time when positive changes can either be cemented or lost because there are endless opportunities for men to slip back into previous patterns of drug-use and crime. Alongside ex-offenders we also welcome vulnerable men who are either recovering from addictions or are homeless. We provide advice and support so men become empowered to live independently and self-sufficiently.
Established in 1958, The Langley House Trust work with those who are at risk of offending, or have offended, establishing positive foundations so that no-one is unfairly disadvantaged or excluded because of their past.
On 20 February 2012, Stepping Stones Trust became a part of the Langley House Trust. As a result, the Trust will grow to a total of 23 services across England which last year worked with over 1,000 ex-offenders.