Hastings and Eastbourne get more money to help rough sleepers

A project to prevent rough sleeping in East Sussex has secured extra funding to support people at risk, with particular focus on Hastings and Eastbourne.
Southdowns Rough Sleeping Prevention teamSouthdowns Rough Sleeping Prevention team
Southdowns Rough Sleeping Prevention team

The Rough Sleeping Prevention Project (RSPP), delivered by Southdown’s Home Works service, is designed to assist vulnerable people across the county where the rate of rough sleeping has been rising in recent years.

The additional funding, provided by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG’s) Rough Sleeping Prevention Fund, will enable Home Works to increase the support it provides to an additional 80 vulnerable people over six months.

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The Rough Sleeping Prevention Project is a two-year pilot operation funded until March 2019.

Since the pilot started, the project has supported more than 300 people to secure affordable and sustainable accommodation and start to rebuild their lives.

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Jayney Gascoigne, the project lead at Southdown, said: “The Rough Sleeping Prevention Project provides intensive support to resolve people’s housing situation swiftly, be that they are already experiencing their first episode of rough-sleeping or that they are imminently going to. It follows the principle of ‘No First Night Out’.

“The extra funding will enable us to be there for more people, many of whom are in really dire situations with no-one else to turn to. Our team are highly skilled at what they do, providing compassionate, intensive and expert support.”

Referrals to the Rough Sleeper Prevention Project can be made through local authority housing options team, job centres, the St Leonards/Hastings probation/CRC one stop shop, local Citizens Advice Bureau or local food banks.