South Yorkshire homeless charities back new Prime Minister's policy to 'end' rough sleeping for good
Andy Burnham made it his first policy pledge outside Downing Street earlier this week
Charities working to end homelessness in South Yorkshire & North Derbyshire tell us 'it can be achieved' under Andy Burnham.
The new Prime Minister announced it as his first policy pledge on Monday outside Downing Street.
Roundabout currently has 340 bed spaces for people under 25 in Sheffield - & another 60 beds in Rotherham.
Ben Keegan is the Chief Executive of the organisation:
"It's not an easy task to end rough sleeping, but I've always thought it's something that is achievable.
"I'd encourage the Prime Minister to come down to Sheffield and listen to what we've done in the city to stop under 25's sleeping rough.
"Andy Burnham could then see how these good practices may be able to be rolled out across the country.
"All of our properties are full, so we do need more capacity.
"With that, we'll need more funding for staff.
"We can't house people without the funds, but it's not just the accommodation; people have high support needs.
"In order to meet those needs, you need support workers that can help people through that process, and they need paying like anybody else.
"People on the streets are individuals, and if you can help one person off the streets and into a home, you can do it for other people too.
"When one person under the age of 25 appears on the streets of Sheffield or Rotherham, they become our priority.
"In Sheffield we do still have too many people sleeping rough.
"That is a problem that can be solved if we all pull together and there's a will to do it.
"Roundabout takes responsibility for under 25's, but it doesn't feel like others a taking responsibility to try and solve this problem for those over the age of 25."
The government says an additional £340 million will be provided to support the policy - which is expected to provide 1,200 homes and 'intensive support' for at least 3,000 people in England over a 5-year period.