The consortium will begin its work later in the year. Reflecting the success of A Bed Every Night in delivering night shelter provision across all of Greater Manchester, Housing First places will be delivered in every one of the city-region’s 10 boroughs. Jigsaw will cover Tameside, Oldham and Stockport. Over time it is anticipated that the partnership will grow with more organisations bringing online further accommodation in years two and three.
Kerrie Pryde, Operational Director of Jigsaw Support said: “We’ve been running very successful Housing First projects through our homelessness charity Threshold for a few years now and are delighted to have helped to steer this Greater Manchester bid and secure funding to help more people across Greater Manchester.
“It’s great to see Government recognition for the Housing First model and we’re looking forward to helping to shape the delivery of this project including supporting teams on the ground.”
Other partners involved in delivering the project are: Riverside; Regenda Homes; Stockport Homes Group; Greater Manchester Mental Health; The Bond Board; One Manchester and Great Places.
Greater Manchester’s Housing First model is one of three regional pilots funded by central Government, with West Midlands’ already under way and Merseyside soon to launch.
The Housing First model uses independent, stable housing as a platform to enable individuals with multiple and complex needs to begin recovery and move away from homelessness.
Housing First England state that through the provision of intensive, flexible and person-centred support, 70-90% of Housing First residents are able to remain housed – having a place to call home also leads to improvements in people’s physical and mental health and well being.
The Housing First approach was first developed by Pathways to Housing in New York in the early-1990s. It has since been adopted in several major cities in the United States as well as in countries including Denmark, France and Finland.
The Finnish model has formed the basis of Greater Manchester’s planning – in Helsinki, the approach has cost the national government 300m euros (£260m) over the last decade. However, rough sleeping is now virtually non-existent in the capital city.
In Greater Manchester, Housing First will form a central part of a network of services and approaches delivering a co-ordinated and concerted effort to address rough sleeping and homelessness. Alongside A Bed Every Night, which at the moment is funded to run to the end of March, Housing First will run alongside the £1.8 million SIB as another innovative and successful approach to addressing the crisis of people living without a home.
A Bed Every Night is funded by the city-region’s local authorities and is supplemented by private donations from concerned individuals and businesses. For more information and donate visit www.bedeverynight.co.uk.
