More than 80 homes for rough sleepers are to be created in Bristol, a homelessness charity has announced.
The new accommodation will include eight modular properties and renovations to existing housing.
St Mungo’s provides over 200 people in the Bristol area with accommodation on an average night, and worked with over 1,100 individuals across its Bristol services between July and September last year.
READ MORE: The people supporting rough sleepers in Bristol
St Mungo’s Regional Head, David Ingerslev, said: “We are pleased to have confirmation from the Government on the way funding under the Government’s Rough Sleeping Accommodation Programme is to be allocated, and how this will benefit the region.
"This additional accommodation will allow organisations like St Mungo’s to continue to offer expert wrap-around support and care to those with complex needs and to accommodate more people who are sleeping rough.
“We particularly welcome the Government’s commitment to multi-year funding, which was a key recommendation of the Kerslake Commission on Homelessness and Rough Sleeping and will help homelessness organisations and Local Authorities to provide long-term, sustainable solutions to rough sleeping.”
St Mungo’s welcomed the Government’s allocation of £174 million to support people sleeping rough across England into long-term homes.
Announced at the end of last week by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, the funding will create over 2,900 move-on homes between 2021 and 2024, forming part of the government’s Rough Sleeping Accommodation Programme. In Bristol, the funding will provide over 80 homes for people sleeping rough in the city.
The news comes in advance of the 2021 rough sleeping snapshot statistics, which will be released on February 24, 2022.
Steve Douglas CBE, St Mungo’s Chief Executive, said: “We know from our experience managing 30 hotels and supporting over 4,000 people during the ‘Everyone In’ initiative, that collaboration and long term revenue and capital funding make a real difference to what can be achieved.
“We are pleased to see the Government learning from the success of the pandemic response, as long-term solutions are the most effective route if we are to end rough sleeping for good.”
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