Staff at the Archer Project in Sheffield 'feeling positive' after government funding boost
The charity was recently awarded £500,000 by the Labour government
Rough sleeping organisations in South Yorkshire & North Derbyshire tell us they 'feel positive' homelessness can be tackled 'for good' in the coming years.
Recently - the Archer Project in Sheffield was given half a million pounds - to help maintain its site & employ more staff.
Tim Renshaw is the Chief Executive of the charity:
"Over a year we'll see about 1,200 individuals in total.
"On any one day, we'll be looking at about 80-100 people coming to the centre.
"Some of those people come down to the centre because they've moved off the street and they're part of our volunteer programme.
"We need that social interaction to grow, but a big proportion of the people who come down are still taking part in street life and are rough sleeping.
"A healthy city centre is one where we don't see people sleeping on the streets.
"We have GP's, nurses, dentists; all that kind of medical support in our building.
"From this recent £500,000 we've had from the government, £300,000 of that helps us to look at job posts for the next three years.
"The other £200,000 of that will go towards refurbishing this centre at Sheffield Cathedral that we are in.
"We work with people who are homeless on the streets and in temporary accommodation - all the way through to people getting in settled accommodation and having a settled life."
Prime Minister Andy Burnham has pledged to get all rough sleepers off the streets in time for Christmas this year.