Rough Sleepers to play key role in local prevention work

Homeless Link launches toolkit to help tackle rough sleeping

Over the last 10 years rough sleeping has reduced in England by two-thirds. This reduction indicates that outreach services and supported accommodation have been successful in helping people off the streets. However, there remains a flow of new people onto the streets.
 
In November 2008, the Government outlined its commitment to ending rough sleeping “once and for all” in England by 2012, with the launch of its strategy, No One Left Out: Communities ending rough sleeping. Homeless Link successfully campaigned to include prevention in the strategy.  An understanding of what leads people to sleep rough, and then tackling these causes, is vital to stopping the flow of new people onto the streets.  To this end, Communities and Local Government (CLG) commissioned Homeless Link to develop a Prevention Opportunities Mapping and Planning Toolkit (PrOMPT).
 
Jenny Edwards, Chief Executive of Homeless Link, the national umbrella agency for frontline homelessness charities, said, “The views of people with direct experience of rough sleeping are key to unlocking solutions that will help end rough sleeping as they can identify points in their journey where interventions would have helped them to move more quickly off the streets.  PrOMPT facilitates this input, while providing the means for local services to learn from their experiences and supporting effective partnership working.” 
 
CLG said, “No one should have to sleep rough even for one night in 21st century Britain.  We know that in order to end rough sleeping, we need to identify how and why people end up on the streets in the first place.  We are delighted, therefore, to have supported the development of PrOMPT.  It will play a vital role in bringing statutory and voluntary services together to develop a response to rough sleeping in local areas.”
 
Chris Hancock, Housing Strategy Officer for Norwich City Council, one of the pilot areas for PrOMPT, said “We have found the toolkit to be a very good way of getting to the heart of what clients’ experiences are of street homeless services in Norwich and the ways they have found themselves to be on the streets. This knowledge will be put to good use in the formation of our sub-regional strategy that is coming out in 2010.”

Notes to editors

• About Homeless Link

Homeless Link is the national umbrella organisation for frontline agencies working to end homelessness in England. We are campaigning for an end to rough sleeping by the time the Olympics come to Britain in 2012. For more information on our work, please visit our website

• About PrOMPT

For more information about PrOMPT, visit the Homeless Link website . Please note this is our beta testing site. If you experience any problems, please contact the web team on 020 7960 3027.

• For interviews or comments

Please contact Gill Perkins in our press office on 020 7960 3025 or 07881 921476 for more information or to arrange an interview with a Homeless Link spokesperson.