VOLUNTEERS are being sought by a Christian homelessness charity to expand a recent project to more areas of the UK.
Housing Justice has run a scheme, Citadel, across Wales since 2020, and last week announced that it was expanding the project to Bristol, Cornwall, south-east London, Hastings, and Sheffield.
Citadel matches volunteers with people vulnerable to becoming homeless, to offer personalised support with such matters as budgeting, sourcing home items, or finding a recent home when being evicted.
Volunteers may additionally be involved in providing emotional support, and helping people to interact with their area people.
Testimonies on Housing Justice’s website suggest that the individualised support, sustained over a time frame, is valued by people vulnerable to homelessness. The charity focuses on stopping homelessness, and refers to statistics that suggest that those referred to the project sustain their tenancies for not less than a 12 months afterwards.
A report from the National Audit Office (NAO), published on 23 July, concluded that homelessness was increasing, and that short-term relief efforts — resembling providing emergency housing — were economically unsustainable.
Local authorities spent £1.6 billion on temporary accommodation in 2022-23, amounting to about two-thirds of the entire spent on homelessness services. Councils have a statutory duty to take reasonable steps to forestall homelessness, in addition to to offer temporary accommodation when it occurs.
“Funding stays fragmented and usually short-term, inhibiting homelessness prevention work and limiting investment in good-quality temporary accommodation or other types of housing,” the NAO report concluded.
The report really helpful that the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (which has now been renamed the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government) reconsider funding streams for local authorities and conduct further evaluation on repeat homelessness.
The head of Citadel England, George Butler, said last week: “Homelessness is far more than simply the absence of a house. People who experience homelessness also experience multiple types of exclusion.
“Citadel seeks to redress the balance, bringing the community together to support people not simply to have a roof over their head, but to have a spot to belong and to thrive.”
He invited anyone enthusiastic about volunteering to contact Housing Justice by email at: citadelteam@housingjustice.org.uk
