Help for people in temporary accommodation - thanks to board game

Members of Stockport Homes’ staff and the Temporary Accommodation Expert Panel (TAEP) have come up with a unique way to help people in temporary accommodation make the right choices to help them get their own home…a game.

There are various choices to be made along the way which determines whether the player moves forward or backwards along the board game, representing the struggles faced in daily life for homeless people.

The game, called Streets to home, has been placed in Stockport Homes’ three temporary accommodation schemes for new and existing residents to use.

At the TAEP meetings, (which is made up of current and former temporary accommodation customers), members worked in small groups to decide the format the game should take and exactly what the risk and support cards should say, based upon their own experiences and things they’d heard from other residents.

Billy a member of the TAEP and former resident of Stockport Homes’ Temporary Accommodation Scheme said: “I wish there had been something like this for me when I first entered the scheme as it’s a friendly informal way to see what can happen depending on the choices I take.“

David Kirwan, Vice Chair of Stockport Homes’ Board said: “This is a great idea. It’s a simple but effective way to show our customers in the temporary accommodation schemes how by making the right choices they can be on the right track to getting their own home.”