North East Lincolnshire has been identified as one of the areas in the country facing the greatest pressures this winter regarding rough sleeping.
The government has awarded £10m across London and another 115 local authorities in England to cope with the pressures faced. North East Lincolnshire Council will receive £26,884.
A council spokesperson said it is grateful for the extra funding and will work with a government rough sleeping adviser on initiatives to help as many people as possible.
The £10m government funding is “in recognition of the significant pressures that local areas face in increasing the provision of emergency accommodation and the additional support required to safeguard vulnerable people at risk of sleeping rough this winter.”
Winter is particularly high-risk for individuals sleeping rough. People who are homeless or rough sleeping are eight to 12 times more likely than the general population to die prematurely, especially from chronic cardiovascular and respiratory diseases.
North East Lincolnshire’s recent annual rough sleeper count recorded 14 rough sleepers – the same as the year before.
A North East Lincolnshire Council spokesperson said: “We are very grateful for this money; it will help us to enhance the current offer for rough sleepers throughout the winter months. We work hard using our pathways and the support available to help those who are rough sleeping, should they want to engage with it.
“In the coming weeks, we will be developing initiatives with our government rough sleeper adviser so we can use this money to its full potential and help as many people as possible. Where someone is sleeping rough, the easiest way to help is by making an alert on StreetLink – Connecting people sleeping rough to local services (thestreetlink.org.uk), which will go to the rough sleeper coordinator, who will work with the outreach team to offer support to the individual.”
The government’s rough sleeping initiative (2022–2025) is already supporting local authorities to deliver tailored rough sleeping services, helping those in need have the best chance of a sustainable life off the streets. £500m is being awarded in total through this, and North East Lincolnshire has previously been allocated just shy of £1.9m, while North Lincolnshire has received £1m.
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