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Help for people who are homeless in Cardiff – Winter 2019


  • The council helps many people who find themselves homeless and a range of different provision is available, from statutory temporary accommodation for people owed a duty by the local authority, to other supported accommodation which is accessed via the Single Persons Gateway and Young Persons Gateway.

 

  • Addressing rough sleeping in the city is a key priority for the Council and we are working with partners to deliver our Rough Sleeper Strategy, including a ‘Housing First' model which moves rough sleepers straight from the streets into a home.

 

 

  • In 2018/19 we helped 157 people off the streets and into accommodation.

 

 

  • We work with homeless charities such as the Salvation Army, Wallich, Huggard and the YMCA to provide hostel accommodation, a day centre for the homeless, and a night bus service.

 

  • We're committed to working with individuals to support them to access services and our Outreach team works 7 days a week both during the day and into the evening to engage with people sleeping rough or who are at risk of sleeping rough. 

 

 

  • Individuals who sleep rough often have enormously complex issues and in some circumstances choose not to access our accommodation, instead sleeping rough for many years. In these circumstances, our Outreach team works directly with them on a daily basis.

 

  • A multi-disciplinary team is available to help individuals to address their underlying issues. This team includes drug and alcohol worker, nurses, social workers, therapeutic worker and counsellor, peer mentors and access to rapid prescribing services.

 

  • A wide range of holistic services are available on a daily basis for individuals including medical and drug and alcohol services, alongside accommodation services.

 

  • Overall we provide 261 hostel places for single homeless people and 98 emergency beds and 353 supported accommodation units. During the winter, there are additional emergency bed spaces.

 

  • Housing First is proving successful in accommodating rough sleepers with high and complex support needs. Earlier this year, wesecured Welsh Government funding to be able to extend our Housing First scheme to create 10 more Housing First spaces, aimed specifically at prison leavers with complex needs, to try to break the cycle of homelessness and prison

 

  • At the end September 2019, there were a total of21live tenancies across  the city and 91%of Housing First clients were considered to have broken the cycle of homelessness.

 

 

  • The Council's Ty Nos project has had considerable success moving longterm rough sleepers into accommodation by taking a personcentred approach, including allowing friends to move in together in groups. Recently an additional 3 bedroom unit has been identified to house women, providing self- contained, femaleonly emergency provision in response to identified need.

 

 

 

  • Warm Welcome diversionary activities were established this year with the aim of tackling negative street cultures and building people's skills and ability to move into independent living, through engagement into education, training and employment, and creative and therapeutic outlets. Around 300 individuals have been have been supported through the scheme taking part in activities such as art, photography and music workshops, Into Work and Money Advice workshops, coffee mornings and sports sessions.

 

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  • A pilot project ‘Fighting Homelessness' launched  earlier in the year offering people living in hostels or engaged with rough sleeping services the opportunity to take part in weekly boxing and fitness sessions. The programme aims to improve participants' physical and mental health, as well as increasing life skills. Participants have gained confidence and motivation, resulting in increased engagement with services. Some have gone on to secure work experience and paid work, or accessed permanent accommodation.

 

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  • As well as accommodation for single people, we also have more than 500 temporary accommodation units to house families while a more permanent housing solution can be found

 

 

  • The Council is looking at innovative ways of delivering more affordable housing for the city including using shipping containers as temporary housing for homeless families. Thirteen new homes will be ready early next year on Bute Street while eight new family homes will be created in shipping containers at Green Farm hostel in Ely, with the 1stfamilies moving in before Christmas.

 

 

  • As well as more temporary accommodation, the Council is one of the few councils in the country building new council homes, to deliver good quality, affordable homes to meet increasing demand. We are on track to deliver 1,000 new council homes by 2022, and have a target of 2,000 new homes in total in the years following.