An innovative approach to help reduce the number of people sleeping on the streets in Basingstoke and Deane has received a major funding boost.

Over £263,000 has been awarded by the Government to fund specialist psychologists to work over three years with those people rough sleeping or at risk of homelessness in the borough.
The bid was submitted by Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council following discussions with partnerships including the Clinical Commissioning Group, Homeless Link and Southampton University.
It will trial an innovative way of tackling rough sleeping by commissioning psychologists to provide a service which gets to the heart of complex issues that entrench many people into a life on the streets. This support will encourage people to think about the possibilities of change using a range of individual and group sessions in a variety of settings including street outreach, day centres, community hubs, council offices and hostels. The money will also help to fund staff training in this area to support the ongoing work.

This work is the latest in a raft of proposals being implemented to tackle a rise in rough sleeping in the borough. The latest official rough sleeper count has shown an increase of six on the previous year, with 26 people now sleeping on the borough’s streets. These figures follow a national trend, but the council is keen to reverse this and is working with partners to create a joined-up, forward-thinking approach to tackle homelessness.

Some of the innovative projects that have taken place and are continuing to develop include retendering the supporting people services, setting up the Social Inclusion Partnership to spearhead the joined-up partnership approach to tackling homelessness, and assessing the health needs of homeless people in the borough to help plan for future intervention work and target resources. The council has become the first two-tier authority nationally to set up the Making Every Adult Matter pilot to support the most complex individuals at risk of rough sleeping, and has been working with Southampton University to develop a best practice understanding of rough sleeping issues.

Another success has been the Real Change, Not Loose Change campaign led by Basingstoke Voluntary Action on behalf of the Social Inclusion Partnership. This was launched to inform residents and businesses on the best ways to help people sleeping rough in the borough by providing advice on how to help and encouraging people to donate their time or money to local homelessness charities, rather than giving their loose change directly to people begging or rough sleeping.

This campaign has received tremendous support so far and hit its target of nearly £14,000 raised through a crowdfunding site to support the pilot winter Nightlight shelter and provide a shower room for the Camrose Day Centre. Hundreds of people have also come forward to volunteer their time to help these charities and other homelessness services in the borough.

People are still being encouraged to support real change and funding is now being raised to support the Camrose day centre opening for an additional day a week.

Chair of the Social Inclusion Partnership and Deputy Leader at Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council Cllr Terri Reid said: “It is deeply saddening to see more people are sleeping on our streets but we are not standing still and we are trying new things with our partners to make a difference. This funding from the government will support some really vital work that is needed to help our most vulnerable residents with complex needs to move their lives forward, while also helping us to shape services so they are easier to access in the future.

“We are so proud of the work that is taking place in Basingstoke to tackle homelessness. This is a real team effort from all of the agencies, groups and charities and it is not possible without everyone working together and looking at different ways of working.”

“The Real Change campaign has been a shining example of just how much support there is to make a real difference to the lives of people who, for many reasons, have found themselves on the streets and on behalf of the Social Inclusion Partnership I would like to thank everyone who has supported this so far and encourage them to continue this support. We are seeing some real positive results from the night shelter and the new shower room at the Camrose will make a huge difference.”

If you would like to help make a #realchange for people sleeping on the borough’s streets please:

Tell us if you are worried about someone sleeping rough – Call Streetlink on 0300 500 0914 or visit http://streetlink.org.uk.

Donate your time or money towards supporting an extra day of opening for the Camrose Centre. Money is being collected through donation boxes around the town centre or you can donate online at www.spacehive.com/real-change

Visit www.basingstoke.gov.uk/real-change for more information .