Cambridge Street Aid is a fund managed by Cambridgeshire Community Foundation and supported by Cambridge City Council, Jimmy's Cambridge, Cambridge Cyrenians, Cambridge Churches Homelessness Project, Cambridge BID and CAMBAC (Cambridge Businesses against Crime).
Every penny of the money donated to the fund will go directly to increasing provision for those most in need and homeless in Cambridge. The new fund will give grants of up to £750 to help vulnerable people on the streets get the support, accommodation and employment they need to turn a corner in their life.
Many residents and visitors who encounter people on the streets are tempted to help by giving them money. However studies by prominent charities such as Thames Reach in London have suggested that the public's kindness can often hinder someone's ability to get off the streets if money from begging is spent on substances detrimental to their health.
Some people who beg on Cambridge's street already have a place to live while some genuinely homeless people also choose not to beg. The city's direct access hostel on East Road, Jimmy's, offers free-to-enter accommodation and welfare support while many organisations work with the council to support rough sleepers and the vulnerable off the streets.
Cllr Kevin Price, Executive Councillor for Housing, said:
"Cambridge Street Aid will provide a simple way for residents and visitors to help those on the streets turn their lives around. Donations can be made by a text message or through the Street Aid website.
“There are many reasons why people are sleeping rough or asking for money and it's understandable that people want to respond to someone seen on the streets, usually by giving them cash, but we would like to ask them to consider if this is the best way to help.
“By donating to Cambridge Street Aid members of the public can be assured that 100% of their money will go directly in grants to help some of the most vulnerable in the city. The city council and its partners will continue to expand the help we provide for homeless people in Cambridge but, at the end of the day, we respect their right to make their own choices, whether to take up the support and accommodation on offer and come off the street, or to continue sleeping rough."
Cambridge Street Aid is being funded by Cambridge BID and CAMBAC, and supported by organisations including Jimmy’s Cambridge, Cambridge Cyrenians, Cambridge Churches Homelessness Project and the council.
Becky Burrell, Marketing and Commercial Manager of Cambridge BID, said: “We are delighted to be supporting and enhancing this new and very worthwhile initiative, which will benefit so many vulnerable people in the years ahead.
“Cambridge BID has a far-reaching agenda to ensure the city centre remains a safe and secure environment for everyone, irrespective of their social situation or circumstance.”
To donate to Cambridge Street Aid people can either text ‘CAMB16’ followed by the amount they wish to donate to 70070 (for example ‘CAMB16 £3’), or can do so online at www.cambscf.org.uk/cambridge-street-aid.html For more information look out for posters being put up around the city in prominent locations, or visit www.cambridge.gov.uk/cambridge-street-aid
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Notes for editors
1. A national website www.streetlink.org.uk allows members of the public to notify the council if they are concerned about someone sleeping rough, to help them get local support and access services they might need.
2. All local authorities must find accommodation for people who are “statutorily homeless”. Single people will generally not have what the law calls ‘priority need’ and so will not be considered to be statutorily homeless even if they have no home. Councils have a duty to provide advice and assistance to single people not in priority need, but they have no duty to find housing.
But while a council has no formal housing duty in ‘non-priority’ cases, Cambridge City Council provides, commissions and supports a wide of services for single homeless people and the substantial number of local people who, while not actually homeless, live in insecure accommodation or who lead a street-based life style.
The council spends over £700,000 a year in grants to various services assisting homeless people and people on the street. All the major local homelessness charities receive some funding from the Council.
The Council has very strong links with Jimmy’s Cambridge, Winter Comfort, Change, Grow, Live (which provides a street outreach service), Riverside Care and Support, Cambridge Cyrenians, the Cambridge Churches Homelessness Project, and a range of smaller providers. These organisations are partners within the Housing Strategic Implementation Partnership (HSIP) which sets priorities for the work we do to assist street people and rough sleepers.
Between the hostels and the various ‘move-on’ houses provided by some of the organisations mentioned, there are over 300 supported beds in Cambridge for single homeless people.
In addition to the grants it makes to other organisations, the council funds its own services for single homeless people and rough sleepers. These services include a fund to help people pay the rent in advance and the deposit when they move into privately-rented accommodation; the Single Homelessness Service, and Town Hall Lettings (the council’s social lettings agency). These last two initiatives have helped to house almost 250 Cambridge people since the services started in early 2013.
The council works with Jimmy’s Cambridge, Cambridge Churches Homelessness Project, Riverside Care and Support and the Street Outreach Team to ensure that a warm bed and a meal is available during cold weather for people who would otherwise sleep rough. Many local authorities provide this kind of accommodation only when the temperature is forecast to fall to zero for three days or more, but in Cambridge the council includes periods of cold damp weather, high winds and prolonged periods when it is cold but not sub-zero. Last winter we arranged 49 nights of severe weather accommodation in 28 additional beds. In the current winter, with the help of partners, the council will be providing 43 additional beds for 60 nights (or more, if required) with an almost doubled budget. Severe weather beds are open to all-comers. The council makes up to 30 council or housing association tenancies a year available for people wishing to move on from hostel accommodation.
3. Contacts:
Cllr Kevin Price, (Labour group) Executive Councillor for Housing, email kevin.price@cambridge.gov.uk, tel: 07964 280689
Cllr Nick Avery (Liberal Democrat group), Opposition spokesperson, email: nick.avery@cambridge.gov.uk, tel: 07798 802215
Cllr Marie-Louise Holland (Independent/Green group), Opposition spokesperson, email: marie-louise.holland@cambridge.gov.uk, tel: 01223 564126
Debbie Kaye, Head of Community Services, email: debbie.kaye@cambridge.gov.uk, tel: 01223 458633
Lynda Kilkelly, Safer Communities Manager, email: lynda.kilkelly@cambridge.gov.uk, tel 01223 457045
James McWilliams, Housing Advice Partnerships Manager, email: james.mcwilliams@cambridge.gov.uk, tel: 01223 457813