Case studies

"To date, the council has already found safe accommodation for 14 of the rough sleepers that have been staying at the Great Western Hotel"

On 23 March the Government issued a directive to all councils to temporarily house all rough sleepers during the pandemic to keep them safe. Southend-on-Sea Borough Council placed 89 rough sleepers in hotel and B&B accommodation in just two days and housed a total of 138 across the entire period of lockdown.

Rough sleepers are offered one-to-one psychological help in the London borough under an initiative that has also seen frontline professionals given training in supporting their clients.

Oxford’s Old Fire Station is the base for an innovative social enterprise providing training for homeless people within a popular public arts venue.

The council has taken on a psychotherapist to go out on to the streets and work alongside the borough’s outreach team, helping to turn around the lives of rough sleepers.

A nurse prescriber from the drug and alcohol service has started doing outreach work with the homeless support team. The work has focused on one particular town centre in the district after concerns were raised about a core group of rough sleepers who were not engaged with treatment.

Birmingham City Council’s preventative and collaborative approach meant that when the government launched the ‘Everyone In’ initiative in March last year we were in a better place than most to respond to the pandemic.

A voluntary sector group which provides services for rough sleepers in Preston has set up a “Housing First” approach, giving clients a guarantee of accommodation which then allows them to address health and social issues they have.

A dedicated GP surgery for vulnerable groups, including homeless people, has been set up in Grimsby. The practice provides everything from general health care to food parcels and advice on housing and benefits.

A first step in delivering improved services to 330,000+ residents.