Stoke-on-Trent City Council awarded more than £460,000 to support rough sleepers

Published: Friday, 21st July 2023

Rough sleepers in Stoke-on-Trent are in line for extra support thanks to more than £460,000 of Government funding.

Stoke-on-Trent City Council has been awarded an additional sum of £464,495 from the Rough Sleeping Initiative 2023-2025 to support the city’s most vulnerable residents.

The funding will enable the city council to continue to deliver vital services to people sleeping rough or at risk of sleeping rough.

The cash will be spent on the recruitment of a number of specialist staff which will be responsible for working with people sleeping rough, supporting them into accommodation and ensuring that people do not leave institutions - such as hospitals or prison - with nowhere safe to go.

It will also ensure the city council can continue to deliver bespoke solutions tailored to a person’s needs and provide additional support for people to access accommodation in the private rented sector.

This latest sum of money is in addition to over £1 million previously secured for this financial year which is supporting the work of the city council’s Rough Sleeper Outreach Team and the One Stop Shop provided by Brighter Futures.

Councillor Chris Robinson, cabinet member for housing, said: “Our teams work extremely hard to make sure that the city’s residents are safe, supported and looked after and this additional funding, along with our trusted partners, will help us to continue our vital work in supporting the most vulnerable members of our communities.

“It’s not just about getting people off the streets and putting a roof over their head, it’s about helping them to address serious, and sometimes complex, issues to enable them to rebuild their lives and start again. We want to end rough sleeping in Stoke-on-Trent.”