Greater Manchester housing first project adds more partners

Four new partners have been appointed to Greater Manchester’s housing first scheme.

The scheme is a £7.6m project tasked to rehouse 330 people during its three-year lifespan, and is one of national pilots, alongside similar projects in West Midlands and Liverpool.

Housing first is an evidence-based approach, which uses housing as a platform to enable individuals with multiple and complex needs to begin recovery and move away from homelessness.

The new partners will officially join the Greater Manchester housing girst pilot in January 2021 and are Manchester Action on Street Health (MASH), Early Break, Community Led Initiatives (CLI) and Human Kind.

The new organisations will join the existing partners who include Riverside, Jigsaw and Stockport Homes Group.

The Greater Manchester housing first pilot was commissioned by Mayor Andy Burnham and the GMCA began last year.

Earlier this month, West Midlands mayor Andy Street told the government to ‘get behind housing first’ and roll it out across the country.

Speaking to MPs, he said nearly 300 rough sleepers had been helped off the streets and into their own accommodation thanks to the West Midlands scheme.

‘We are delighted to be able to welcome our new partners into the pilot,’ said programme lead, Emily Cole.

‘From the outset, we planned to scale up and use the learning from the initial stages of the pilot to ensure we were meeting the emerging needs of people being referred to the programme and increase the breadth of expertise within our partnership.

‘Each of the organisations joining the pilot has demonstrated the values and expertise to deliver the specific services we require in each of the zones across Greater Manchester and we are excited to be able to scale up and work with the new partners.

‘The pilot is making a huge difference across Greater Manchester and we are at an exciting stage to be able to meet our aims and ambitions and drive system change.’

Photo Credit – Geralt (Pixabay)