Barnsley Council has launched a new service to help end rough sleeping in our borough.

Our new Housing Led Support Team will work alongside partners to deliver long-term, intensive support, helping people with complex needs who are sleeping rough, facing a housing crisis or have a history of housing instability.

As part of their work to help people rebuild their lives, the project will shortly open a new homeless residential base, providing accommodation and support to those in need.

Made up of bedsits, this new accommodation will allow people to engage closely with the support offered by our Housing Led Support Team to turn things around and live independently again.

This project builds on the support offered by our Housing Options team over the pandemic to meet the government's 'Everybody In' mandate to support rough sleepers off the streets into accommodation. As part of this campaign, we successfully supported several people to live in their own homes again and manage their lives independently.

Our new model builds on what we learned from this project and is designed to match the needs of those with complex needs facing housing crises in our borough. Evidence shows that intensive support, which our new multi-agency team will offer, effectively supports people faced with homelessness or who have been long-term rough sleeping.

This project will work alongside services already offering support to people in housing crisis with complex needs, focusing on those in most acute need to create better outcomes for people who may otherwise fall back into crisis.

Councillor Caroline Makinson, Cabinet Spokesperson for Public Health and Communities, said: "We want to make sure everyone in Barnsley has the best possible chance of enjoying life in good health. Throughout the pandemic, we enjoyed success with 'Everybody In', helping people back into accommodation, teaching them important life skills and providing them with the best possible chance to live a better life in our borough.

"Learning from this project, I'm very excited to introduce our new Housing Led Support Team, who will play a key role in achieving our vision of ending rough sleeping in Barnsley.

"With new accommodation options to help people in crisis and strong partnership links, I hope people will be able to turn their lives around with support from the team and our partners. No single organisation can solve homelessness - so I want to thank our partners and the public for helping us to support people at the earliest possible opportunity."

Barnsley Council works collaboratively with key partners to support people who are homeless or sleeping rough through the Barnsley Homeless Alliance. You can learn more about the work of the Alliance on their website.

As part of our work to prevent homelessness in our borough, we continue to encourage people to report anyone they see sleeping rough through the StreetLink website or their app. They will then contact our Housing Options team, who will offer advice and support.