Hyndburn charities get £170k to tackle homelessness
Two Hyndburn charities have been awarded £169,786 in grants to tackle rough sleeping
Two Hyndburn charities have been awarded £169,786 in grants to tackle rough sleeping in the borough and the public perception it is on the increase.
Maundy Relief and Stepping Stone Projects will use the cash on schemes to prevent and tackle the problem of homeless residents living and spending their night on the streets.
Wednesday’s meeting of the authority’s ruling accepted government allocations of £145,901 from the Rough Sleeping Prevention and Recovery grant for 2025/26 and £75,000 from the Rough Sleeping Accommodation Programme (RSAP) grant for 2025/26.
It approved a grant of £46,000 to Maundy Relief for the continuation of its emergency night shelter and street navigator activities.
And it awarded £123,576 to Stepping Stone Projects.
In addition, the council will spend £45,000 on supporting rough sleepers into employment and training and £6,325 on its flexible surge accommodation fund.
Deputy leader Cllr Melissa Fisher said the cash would help tackled rough sleeping and the public perception the problem was getting worse despite the number of homeless individuals living on the streets actually falling slightly.
Town centres boss Cllr Clare Pritchard said rough sleeping was one of a number of issues a new Accrington town centre working group would be looking at.
Including council officers, police businesses and shop owners it would seen what could be done about the issue and also at how to combat shoplifting and retail crime.
Tory opposition leader Cllr Zak Khan welcomed the new grants and asked what was being done to help homeless people off the streets and back to normal life.
Cllr Pritchard said this was exactly what the Stepping Stones Project schemes were about adding: “They are proactive not reactive.”
Cllr Fisher’s said: “There continues to be a need in the borough for accommodation for rough sleepers as a route off the street and to prevent people from sleeping rough.”