Broadway a hit at Andy Ludlow homelessness awards » Housing » 24dash.com

A charity helping homeless eastern European migrants get off the streets and into work has scooped the top prize at the prestigious Andy Ludlow homelessness awards.

Broadway Homelessness and Support were presented with £20,000 at the London Councils run event by Housing minister John Healey MP, at a ceremony at the British Library.

Broadway beat five other shortlisted groups for their innovative work in helping improve the lives of hundreds of people. King George Hostel and the Community Host Scheme each received £10,000 as runners up; three other groups were awarded £1,000 each.

The Ludlow awards, supported by all the London boroughs, CLG, London Housing Foundation and Shelter, celebrate innovation and good practice in tackling homelessness in London.

Broadway - working closely with the Barka Foundation as well as other charities - has helped transform the lives of hundreds of eastern Europeans by ensuring that they are being treated fairly in the UK by employers and landlords, while also by helping service users reconnect with their home country.

Broadway was established in May 2005 as a rapid intervention service working with outreach teams on the streets or those referred to them by the police or local authorities.

Minister for Housing, John Healey, said: “Charities and councils can tackle rough sleeping in ways central Government simply can't. Their contribution is crucial in helping some of the most destitute and desperate people in London.

"With the right support people can turn their lives around.  The dedication and innovation of London's winning projects is both an inspiration and a challenge to do more to help the most vulnerable on our streets.

"These people they help have no right to housing or benefits.  And if they can't get work and can't support themselves, charities like Barka and Broadway fill the gap to give them the help they badly need."

Chair of the judging panel and London Councils’ Executive Member for Housing, Councillor Steve Reed, said: “I want to commend all the entries for this year’s awards for the work they have done in helping London’s homeless people. The standard of entries was particularly good this year; however Broadway Homelessness and Support really shone with their work for migrants in the UK.

“They have provided invaluable support to people facing social exclusion and I am sure the money will be a great help for them to continue the work they do getting people off the streets and back into work.”

Runners Up - £10,000 each

King George Hostel:

Run by English Churches Housing, King George Hostel is a housing project in Westminster for homeless men who are long-term drug users.  The project provides them with intensive support to stabilise their drug use and a drop-in clinic where used needles can be exchanged.

Community Host scheme:

Based in Croydon and Lambeth, the Community Host scheme run by South London YMCA provides supported lodging for homeless black, asian, minority ethnic (BAME) and refugee 16-17 year olds.  It involves the local BAME and refugee community to provide support and positive role modelling for these young people at risk.

Shortlisted Projects - £1,000 each

Lifeworks Project: 

A project run by St Mungo’s in Lambeth, Kensington & Chelsea and Islington which tackles social exclusion by providing psychotherapy.  The project gives adults who are homeless or at risk of homelessness access to fully-qualified and registered psychotherapists.

Emmaus:

South Lambeth based Emmaus is a workshop which provides work and training for clients through its two charity shops and second hand furniture warehouse.  Residents live and work in the home and are stakeholders in the business.

Homeless in the Capital:

Homeless in the Capital is run by The Connection at St Martin’s and is based in Westminster. The project created a permanent collection of oral histories to share the experiences of homeless people, experiences which are largely missing from arts and culture projects. An exhibition of the work took place at the Museum of London recently and was viewed by over 60,000 people.