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Porchlight has been awarded the contract by Kent Supporting People to run its Outreach Service across Kent.
The Kent Outreach Service provides much needed support to vulnerable people who are rough sleeping, ‘sofa surfing’, in unsuitable housing or find themselves threatened with imminent homelessness.
In 2007/08 447 people accessed the street outreach service. In the same period 321 people in prisons across Kent, including young offenders, accessed the service, highlighting the need for support across the county. The service is currently assisting 62 people who are homeless in Kent, 31 of which are sleeping rough.
People who find themselves homeless or are at risk of homelessness for a combination of different reasons may also suffer from several other issues including mental ill health, drug or alcohol addiction. The team’s outreach workers specialise in these areas as well as others including ex-offenders and young people.
The service also operates a free helpline number, 0800 567 7699, which will shortly be operational 24 hours a day. Service users will also be able to use the helpline to get advice and information about the services in their area, to find when and where the nearest outreach drop-in is to them, and to get help in the case of an emergency.
Kimba Smith, Strategic Area Manager, is delighted by the expansion of the service, “This is an amazing opportunity to reach even more vulnerable people in the county. The addition of the free helpline number and the expertise of the team will allow us not only to help homeless people from becoming entrenched in street lifestyle but also to assist in the prevention of homelessness.”
The team combines work in finding short term solutions to homelessness with linking people to other specialist support agencies to improve all aspects of their life such as health and economic wellbeing.
The service continues to grow across Kent with more and more vulnerable people being helped to start on the road to a more positive future.
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Notes to the Editor:
1. Porchlight is a forward thinking and innovative charity, passionate about helping people and communities. Porchlight is a forward thinking and innovative charity, passionate about helping people and communities. We help change lives by working to prevent homelessness, to help find accommodation for vulnerable people, prevent the breakdown of communities and to support independent living. The charity was established in 1974 as Canterbury Cyrenians and works throughout Kent.
2. The Kent Outreach Service is run by the Strategic Area Manager, Outreach Service Manager, 6 Outreach workers, 2 prison Outreach workers and 1 Young person’s mental health Outreach worker. Vulnerable people can be referred to the service either by self referral, local authorities, Supporting People, drop-in surgeries and street work or from other agencies.
3. The outreach team works with street homeless people, sofa surfers, people in unsuitable housing and those threatened with imminent homelessness as well as supporting former homeless people in their own homes to prevent them returning to street life. Sofa surfers is a term used to refer to people who find temporary accommodation with friends/family/acquaintances which may only be for one night at a time therefore leaving them vulnerable to sleeping rough when this is not available.
4. In 2007-8 Porchlight helped over 1,400 vulnerable people. Porchlight projects include:
Kent Outreach Service:
Our street outreach team work across Kent including working within prisons to help offenders who will be released from prison homeless.
Young Persons Services:
This includes a direct access hostel, longer stay hostel and shared house, providing support for a number years, until each individual is ready to live independently. Specialist support is also available from our Young Person’s Mental Health service.
Mental Health:
We run the only housing project in Kent specifically for people with enduring mental ill-health. We also have a young persons’ mental health service that enables young homeless people with mental health problems to better access the health services they need.
Supported Accommodation:
We have hostels in Canterbury, Dover, Ashford and Ramsgate. They range in the levels of support provided from high support needs with staff available 24hrs a day, to medium support with staff available on a 9-5pm basis.
Homelessness prevention:
This is a preventative ‘floating support’ service that provides support to vulnerable people in their own home who are at risk of becoming homeless. Many of these clients have been through the hostel system and are almost ready to live independently but just need a little support every now and again.
Building Skills:
We have a team that works with people accessing any of our services and helps them develop their skills and education. We provide tailored training and encourage people to get involved in the running and improvement of their project, or volunteer on a more formal level in the organisation. Porchlight is committed to involving our service users throughout all the activities of the charity. They are actively encouraged to become involved in education, employment, volunteering and service user involvement opportunities.
Community Support:
The aim of the project is to ensure that issues and concerns affecting the quality of life in the neighbourhoods are represented and tackled. We aim to achieve this through advocating on residents’ behalf to professional services and working directly in the community, ensuring practical support, advice and information is available. The project co-ordinates regular drop-in surgeries, resident group meetings, training and workshops.
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