We had the idea for a new approach to helping rough sleepers for whom existing solutions may be unsuitable some time ago, but a lot of things needed to be in place for it to work.
Now it's ready, and we believe that it is the only service of its kind in the country for rough sleepers with multiple and complex needs.
My team set it up because we were concerned about the number of failures in helping rough sleepers in temporary accommodation that had occurred in Peterborough – for a whole host of reasons, sometimes quite silly.
These could be evictions for smoking in their b'n'b or hotel, or swearing on one of their ‘bad' days. Neither are ideal when there might be other guests around.
So we needed therefore to find a way to stop these people coming into temporary accommodation, being evicted the same night, and back on the streets the following morning.
We took some time to think and knew we needed something unique for those with complex needs, enabling wraparound support – and that was how we started to design the Off the Streets Project.
We shaped what a project would look like and need, before we sought partners who would work with us. We worked with a previous CIC (Community Interest Community) but that relationship ended, and then My Housing Options CIC actually reached out to us and asked if there was anything we'd like to consider with them, so we started to build a relationship.
They already had this vacant property but were never planning to do this sort of work. We were so grateful to talk to them, and they soon became excited about the idea.
We will measure how many people have gone in and how many have moved on successfully into the right accommodation, but also what's gone wrong and why people have left. Success goes wider than that though. We have one person who has come straight from the street, and has never engaged with support services for alcohol/drugs abuse, or mental health teams, or a GP.
I was able to assure them that we would be funded for 12 months by the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government, as part of the rough sleeping initiative funding.
I was honest with them to say that funding might not last forever, but that we would do as much as we could to support it. It's a very positive partnership.
We began in the new property in April; The project comprises of accommodation for up to 17 people, in the centre of Peterborough, in new properties, where they will stay temporarily until they feel they are ready to move on, in their own time.
We've then brought services into that environment. I've reached out to the Department for Work and Pensions to ask if they can provide sessions on benefits if the rough sleepers have been sanctioned; we have a nurse or doctor that can visit, Aspire drug and alcohol services; and we are hoping to bring in mental health services for regular appointments.
We are also teaching life skills such as budgeting, first aid and cookery – tomorrow they're preparing chilli con carne and cake.
People may look and say ‘the property will be ruined soon' but I can honestly say I've never seen rough sleepers coming directly from the street who take such pride in their new accommodation.
They're taking their shoes off, cleaning up, looking after the garden – there's a sense of pride in having such a homely environment, and people are caring for the rooms.
We are more flexible than a hotel. We won't evict people for having a cigarette inside, but we will still make them aware that there could be consequences for their actions.
We will measure how many people have gone in and how many have moved on successfully into the right accommodation, but also what's gone wrong and why people have left.
Success goes wider than that though. We have one person who has come straight from the street, and has never engaged with support services for alcohol/drugs abuse, or mental health teams, or a GP.
However we have identified those barriers, so we can now examine how they will engage with those services and give them a pathway forward. So there are successes for the project as a whole, but also for the individuals.
We are looking to expand, which is exciting. At the moment these are male-only accommodation and we would like places for females, and they sometimes have very different complex issues. In a trauma-informed environment putting males and females together would not sit right with me.
For all the help we can offer unfortunately there will still be people who rough sleep in Peterborough, and we can throw all the services we can into assisting but they might not be ready for it. However you might see them regularly for years, and suddenly one day they're ready to go for it.
They have a new choice, and we don't believe that there's anywhere else delivering a project such as this in the same way.
Kelly Slack is the Rough Sleeper Outreach Team leader for Housing Needs at Peterborough City Council
