20 October 2011
Personalised Budgets for rough sleepers in the City of London
wins Andy Ludlow Homelessness Awards
On Thursday 20 October, the City of London Corporation and
London based homelessness charity Broadway celebrated winning the
Andy Ludlow Awards for their innovative partnership - providing
Personalised Budgets to entrenched rough sleepers in the
City.
Now in its thirteenth year, the Andy Ludlow Awards are the
country’s leading homelessness awards with prize money of £25,000
awarded to the winner. The City of London Corporation and
Broadway collected their prize at the presentation ceremony at the
Houses of Parliament.
The successful project demonstrates a new way of working to get
the most entrenched long-term rough sleepers off the streets by
giving back choice and control to the individual.
All those involved in the project had been sleeping rough for
between four and 45 years and had been very reluctant to take up
offers of hostel places or detox programmes.
The project asked long term rough sleepers what it would take
for them to move off the streets, as opposed to offering them the
same services that had failed for them previously. Staff worked
with each person to develop a personalised budget of up to £3,000
and an action plan to help them move away from sleeping rough at
their own pace.
The project’s impact is impressive. Of the 21 participants that
were offered a personalised budget, 16 are now in accommodation and
a further 3 are awaiting a specific accommodation offer.
These results far exceeded many people’s expectations of the
project.
On average, participants spent far less than the £3,000 budget
that was available to them (£794 being the average spend), and this
enabled people to purchase items such as furniture to make the move
into accommodation more comfortable, or to pay for courses, which
would ultimately help to sustain accommodation.
Reverend Dr Martin Dudley, Chairman of the City of London
Corporation’s Community and Children’s Services Committee,
said:
“Our Personalised Budgets programme provides a creative strategy
for helping to get the most entrenched rough sleepers off the
streets. It’s fantastic that our approach to tackling
long-term homelessness has been recognised by the judges and we
will continue to work with our partners at Broadway to help improve
services to homeless people in the future.”
Howard Sinclair, Broadway’s Chief Executive said:
'We are delighted to have won the Andy Ludlow Award for our work in
the City of London. The scheme shows just what can be achieved when
all of the agencies -statutory and voluntary - work along with the
people who receive our services to make significant changes in
their lives'
Broadway’s The Old Theatre hostel in Hammersmith and Fulham, for
residents who have been consistently evicted from other supported
housing due to their high level of anti-social behaviour, received
third prize.
Ends
Contact information
Caroline Sweeney,
Communications, Broadway
Tel 020 7710 0615
Email
caroline.sweeney@broadwaylondon.org
Website www.broadwaylondon.org
John Park, Media Officer, City of London Corporation
Tel 020 7332 3639
Email
john.park@cityoflondon.gov.uk
The City of London Corporation is a uniquely
diverse organisation. It supports and promotes the City as the
world leader in international finance and business services and
provides local services and policing for those working in, living
in and visiting the Square Mile. It also provides valued services
to London and the nation. These include the Barbican Centre and the
Guildhall School of Music & Drama; the Guildhall Library and
Art Gallery and London Metropolitan Archive; a range of education
provision (including three City Academies); five Thames bridges
(including Tower Bridge and the Millennium Bridge); the Central
Criminal Court at Old Bailey; over 10,000 acres of open spaces
(including Hampstead Heath and Epping Forest), and three wholesale
food markets. It is also London’s Port Health Authority and runs
the Animal Reception Centre at Heathrow. It works in partnership
with neighbouring boroughs on the regeneration of surrounding areas
and the City Bridge Trust, which it oversees, donates more than
£15m to charity annually.
Broadway is a charity that works with people
who are homeless or at risk of losing their home. Our vision is
every person finds and keeps a home. The charity works with over
4000 people a year providing a combination of practical support and
long term guidance to help people lead fulfilling, independent
lives. Street outreach, hostels, supported housing and floating
support services are provided alongside health, welfare and money
advice, and work and learning services. Through research,
information and partnership projects Broadway pushes forward the
boundaries of good practice in services for homeless people.
The Andy Ludlow Awards: Run by London Councils
on behalf of the capital’s 33 boroughs, the Andy Ludlow Awards are
sponsored by London Housing Foundation, the government’s department
for Communities and Local Government, Shelter and London Councils'
Grants Committee. The awards are supported by Inside Housing
magazine. The panel of judges look for evidence of work that
improves services to homeless people, prevents homelessness or
tackles disadvantage caused by homelessness.