This grant will fund a project to train disadvantaged young people (18-25 years) in culinary skills as a route out of homelessness, poverty, and despair. Culinary skills involve food, cooking and chef skills which will provide practical and essential life skills that will enable young people to start their journey towards employment and a more stable, secure, and independent future.
Funds awarded: £46,000
Since 1989, akt have been supporting LGBTQ+ young people aged 16-25 into safe homes, employment, education, and training. This grant will cover some of the costs of employing a caseworker, who will provide personalised 1:1 support for around 16 young people. The level of support ranges for each individual. Each person is seen for as long as they need, considering their own unique circumstances.
Funds awarded: £7,500
This funding will support with recruiting a Senior Case Worker to ensure that akt’s support services in London operate efficiently. Each young people who approaches or is directed to akt for help is assigned a caseworker who will provide one-to-one support for as long a period as needed. Each young person has unique circumstances and so caseworkers design support plans which are responsive to their needs. For example, some may need to get out of dangerous situations quickly, while others might instead require tools and advice to rebuild family relationships.
Funds awarded: £36,297
Alabare support vulnerable, homeless, and marginalised individuals when they have nowhere else to turn. This grant will enable them to provide 32 young people at their centre with throws for their beds and a welcome pack of basic toiletries.
Funds awarded: £1,000
The funding will be spent on activities for young residents in the Bedford area. These activities will focus on improving the young people’s both physical and mental wellbeing. This will include a combination of independent activity sessions, led by volunteers, and residents being supported by the charity.
Funds awarded: £2,400
This funding will support the brilliant staff members at BYPM to ensure that they receive adequate training and resources, enabling them to support the young people who come through their doors, to the highest standard. This includes training courses, alongside funding resources such as printing costs, travel, activity books, teaching aids, stationary, engagement tools and IT equipment.
Funds awarded: £3,600
This grant will enable the Benjamin Foundation to provide 26 young people moving on into their own accommodation with a “Bed Down” payment of £75 to purchase bedding items. The funding should cover a duvet, 2 pillows, a sheet, a duvet cover set and a blanket for each young person.
Funds awarded: £2,000
Bromley & Croydon Women’s Aid provide suitable, affordable ‘move-on’ housing for women who have experienced domestic abuse, with the aim to reduce the risk of repeat victimisation. This grant will fund one dedicated home for women under 25 years old, alongside specialist help which can be accessed for up to two years per person, providing a long-term support plan towards independence.
Funds awarded: £50,000
A combination of the aftermath of Covid with the current cost of living crisis has seen many young people in the Nottingham area struggling to afford household items like furniture items, white goods, and carpets. This funding will go towards offering some of those in desperate need access to a pot of money to purchase these items.
Funds awarded: £1,000
The Cardinal Hume Centre is committed to providing a sustainable solution to youth homelessness by helping the young people at their centre to reach independence. This grant will support in continuing the use of their transitionary flats at Basil Hume House. They are a stepping-stone between the 24-hour supported hostel accommodation and independent living, allowing young people to experience living on their own, while still having the security and support of the centre just around the corner.
Funds awarded: £27,000
Caring in Bristol focus on early intervention and prevention for people experiencing or at risk of experiencing homelessness, alongside providing emergency temporary accommodation. This funding will go towards supporting the transformation and re-opening of Bristol’s only emergency youth homelessness shelter. This shelter is volunteer-led and has 4 bedrooms for young people to stay for up to six months.
Funds awarded: £5,700
This grant will support Centrepoint in creating affordable accommodation units across Manchester (Gorton and the Northern Quarter), for young people experiencing homelessness, alongside tailored advice to enable successful independent living. Rent that any young person benefitting from the programme will be required to pay is capped at a third of their wage. This gives them the foundation to maintain their finances in a way in which is empowering and sustainable.
These funds were raised directly by Selfridges, Manchester.
Funds awarded: £7,000
This grant will support Centrepoint in creating affordable accommodation units across London (Gypsy Hill, Lambeth), for young people experiencing homelessness, alongside tailored advice to enable successful independent living. Rent that any young person benefitting from the programme will be required to pay is capped at a third of their wage. This gives them the foundation to maintain their finances in a way in which is empowering and sustainable.
These funds were raised directly by Selfridges, London.
Funds awarded: £77,030
This grant will furnish a new community space with C4WS where people facing homelessness can come for support, rest, and a safe space. The facilities include a shower, laundry facilities and luggage storage. The final touches to the space will include chairs, desks, and soft furnishings to ensure this is a welcoming environment for those who need it.
Funds awarded: £2,500
This grant will help to fund the Horizons Mentoring programme. The programme is focused predominantly on supporting care leavers in South London who are disengaging or excluded from education and at risk of becoming homeless. The programme will aim to prevent this though tailored one-to-one mentoring, delivered by a Youth Worker who will focus on communication, self-esteem, self-respect, leadership and keeping safe.
Funds awarded: £30,903
This funding will support the increase of Fat Macy’s outreach and training team’s capacity to reach more young people living in temporary accommodation. They will be hosting six Training Academies alongside a Fat Macy’s roadshow to showcase the programme. These training academies are the entry point for many young people accessing the service and combine 1:1 hospitality and culinary training alongside employability and mental health support.
Funds awarded: £20,000
This funding will support in building temporary accommodation for people to stay for 6-12 months, comprising of 32 units and two sleep pods. Alongside this, Help Bristol’s Homeless will be able to provide support around employment, mental and physical health and wellbeing, and move-on accommodation when people are ready for that next step towards independent living.
Funds awarded: £10,000
This grant will support Herts Young Homeless to ensure that they can continue providing such essential services across the region to young people who have nowhere else to turn. This will include things like staffing, facilitating programmes, and sourcing and managing volunteers.
Funds awarded: £3,500
Latch purchases empty and rundown houses and refurbishes them to create good quality homes, which are used as accommodation for people experiencing homelessness. This grant will be used, alongside funding raised through the LandAid Yorkshire Board, to support the purchase, renovation and retrofit of three properties to create three bedspaces for young people experiencing homelessness. Alongside this, during the building phase of the project, at least an additional eight young people will benefit from training and certification which will help them in their journey to finding long term employment.
Funds awarded: £6,200
These funds will allow the delivery of a skills programme to 15 young people over the duration of three months, who are living in Local Solutions homeless hostel or supported lodgings services. Each young person will be able to complete five programmes to prepare them for independent living, reducing the likelihood of failed tenancies, supporting with employment, and therefore taking the charity one step closer in breaking the cycle of homelessness.
Funds awarded: £3,800
Macs offer voluntary, flexible, and person-centred holistic services to young people aged 16-25 years to address the needs of those experiencing homelessness or risk of homelessness, and to enable them to establish and maintain interdependent living in the community. This funding will be used to provide support through items such as top-ups for utility costs, food, and other essential items.
Funds awarded: £1,200
These funds will support an upgrade to the communal kitchen in the Oasis Naomi Project house. The current kitchen is over 10 years old and has seen thousands of meals cooked in it over the years. It is in much need of an update. Naomi project is home to eight young women between 16-25 years who are experiencing homelessness. The charities aim is to mirror what a positive home experience should look like, following some experience of domestic abuse, sexual exploitation, and sex/drug trafficking. The project has worked with over 30 young women in the past year.
Funds awarded: £5,600
This grant will be used to fund the Porchlight welfare fund with the purpose of helping young people in Kent move on, recover, and take their next steps out of homelessness. This will predominantly involve contributing towards deposits for tenancies and paying for essential items for young people to fill their first home.
Funds awarded: £2,500
Fusion project with Right There provides accommodation and tailored support to young people experiencing homelessness. In 2022 they supported 104 young people. Each resident has a support worker so they can develop a tailored plan focused on their goals. These funds will support increasing access to diverse activities, materials to provide a faster turnaround of available flats, and moving essentials, like bedding.
Funds awarded: £7,000
The Rock Trust are focused on prevention, housing, and future planning, for those experiencing homelessness. This grant will support a well-being and therapy programme in Edinburgh for 16–25-year-olds, to process trauma, develop coping strategies, move on from homelessness and help with prevention.
Funds awarded: £7,000
This grant will fund a new support worker to continue operating and providing emergency shelter for young people every night. The role will also offer personalised attention to the unique needs of each young person, building meaningful relationships, and providing the necessary time and resources for comprehensive assistance.
Funds awarded: £25,000
This grant will support the St Basil’s Live and Work Village phase 2. The live and work concept, launched by St Basils in 2015, delivers a truly affordable housing option to young workers, many of whom have experienced homelessness. The scheme enables young workers to pay rent from their earned income without the need to rely on welfare benefits for additional support.
Funds awarded: £12,000
St Christopher’s provide fostering, residential and support services where children and young people can feel safe and cared for. This grant will fund a skills for life programme where young people between the ages of 16-21 years can gain the confidence and belief that they are ready to take the step into employment, get work experience and gain wider support when entering the world of work.
Funds awarded: £20,000
This grant will be used to fund ad hoc purchases for young people experiencing homelessness in Hampshire, that otherwise they would not be able to afford. Each request is submitted to the organisation and agreed by management to ensure the funding is being used in the most effective way.
Funds awarded: £3,000
This grant will help to fund a number of roles at the charity to provide support to young people experiencing homelessness at all parts of their journey. This is to ensure that they feel supported and given the guidance and tools to work towards independent living.
Funds awarded: £11,200
This grant will fund the establishment of a Local House Project in Croydon. Young people experiencing homelessness across the area will be able to take part in the House Project Programme, which consists of 13 modules that are designed to equip young people with tools, confidence, and knowledge to live successfully. The groupwork approach promotes peer support and facilitates networking opportunities to empower individuals to build their own support networks.
Funds awarded: £25,000
This grant will fund a 22 hours per week drop-in service to support with on the day housing crisis needs. The service will direct young people to the right safe accommodation pathway, medical help, mediation management and any other support they may need, in the Northfield constituency, where travel into the city centre is often a barrier to accessing services.
Funds awarded: £12,000
This funding will be used to embed the Spires Centre support offer consistently for young people under 25, experiencing homelessness. The grant will support in building capacity, expertise and heighten the ability to develop a more targeted service for this age group, enabling the expansion of service provision beyond Lambeth to neighbouring boroughs, for instance Wandsworth and Croydon. Examples of support could include identifying suitable training opportunities and employment, advice with tenancies, and mediating with landlords.
Funds awarded: £15,000
This grant will support Quarriers Progress Fund. This benefits young people aged 16-25 years who are taking the next step out of homelessness, towards independent living in moving into their own tenancy. The funding will be used for essential furnishings, like beds, tables and chairs, cots, clothes, books, or other items.
Funds awarded: £2,000
YMCA Cornwall recently purchased Cherrytree House, a building comprising 10 self-contained flats located in Penzance. The charity is undergoing a refurbishment project to ensure that the house is up to the best standards of living for the young people who are being supported, enabling them to feel comfortable and at home. This grant will fund the purchase of a new kitchen and bathroom for one of the flats.
Funds awarded: £3,000
YMCA Trinity Queen Anne House in Cambridge provides support and accommodation to young people aged 16-25 years. With a diverse group of residents, the aim is to support them each to move into their own accommodation and to ultimately break the cycle of homelessness. Funds will support with widening the variety of engagement activities currently on offer, in consultation with the residents through monthly forum meetings. A 12-month programme of events will be able to be planned.
Funds awarded: £5,000
YPACF support young people to move on from supported accommodation towards independent living. Financially this is extremely hard. 80% of the time they are moving into social housing studios or 1-bedroom flats that are unfurnished and with no carpet or white goods. These funds will support young people in Berkshire to purchase items like carpets, white goods, microwaves, kettles, toasters, tables, second hand sofas, a bed, wardrobes, and anything else needed to make their new house a home.
Funds awarded: £2,000
Legal Aid funding is sadly no longer available for young people experiencing homelessness. This means that free independent specialist legal advice for people facing homelessness is virtually non-existent. This funding will support in running a free specialist legal advice service for young people to assist them through the homelessness process and prevent gatekeeping. This will include telephone, webchat, email and/or face-to-face advice.
Funds awarded: £10,000
