Beeston-based charity Turning Lives Around is set to continue providing housing support and homelessness prevention services for vulnerable people in Leeds for another three years.
Leeds City Council has renewed the contracts related to Beacon Leeds which Turning Lives Around (TLA) delivers in partnership with fellow local charities Touchstone and Foundation, and Carr Beck, TLA’s 24-hour intensive specialist support and accommodation service for women who are alcohol-dependent.
Launched in 2017, Beacon supports 240 homeless adults and families with multiple disadvantages providing trauma informed support plus a range of community based and intensive support accommodation. Working with other specialist agencies, Beacon enables clients to manage or overcome personal challenges while gaining skills around budgeting, looking after themselves and their home. On average, a hundred Beacon clients annually move on to independent living in more permanent homes sourced through private rental, housing associations or Leeds City Council.
Believed to be the only specialist service of its kind for women in the UK, Carr Beck provides a safe, supported environment where up to six alcohol-dependent women at any one time, can manage and reduce their alcohol consumption. Established in 1996, Carr Beck has supported some 200 women, enabling them to move on with their lives, healthily and independently, reconciling with family, attending university, embarking on careers, providing peer support.
Steve Hoey, CEO of TLA, said he was delighted that the contracts for these valuable housing and homelessness prevention services had been renewed by Leeds City Council.
“This is excellent news on many levels,” he said. “It gives clients and colleagues the security that their great work and support can continue for another three years, helping to break the cycle of homelessness which both Beacon and Carr Beck have proved to do.
“In addition, at a time when homelessness is on the increase throughout the UK, continuing to invest in services like these is essential. Recent Government figures related to a rough sleeping snapshot carried out last autumn, showed the largest increase – up 43% – was in Yorkshire and the Humber, while other data points to a 20% increase in homelessness amongst women in the UK,” said Steve who is working with Homeless Link, campaigning with other organisations to bring about change that will end homelessness.
One of the areas for change that Homeless Link is calling for is around homelessness funding and the need to focus less on expensive ‘quick fix’ crisis response and more on long-term solutions and homelessness prevention. Leeds Central and Headingley MP Alex Sobel recently met Steve at a Homeless Link lobbying event in London and is supportive of the campaign.
“The extra £1bn for homelessness prevention from the Government was a rare win for lobbying and is directly benefitting TLA’s work. It is pleasing to see Leeds City Council getting on board and building into the contract renewals uplifts to allow for inflation and the extra National Insurance costs that take effect 2025/26. We have also had domestic violence and abuse practitioner funding confirmed for 2025/26 which is another area of support in high demand,” reported Steve.
“Funding these services at a realistic and appropriate level helps to safeguard them now and for the intermediate future, enabling us to continue helping the people who need it, putting them on the path to a stable home and away from repeated homelessness.”
This post is based on a press release issued on behalf of Turning Lives Around
Photo: Calling for change to end homelessness, Steve Hoey with Alex Sobel, MP for Leeds Central and Headingley.
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