What is the North Somerset Street2Settled Partnership?
The North Somerset Street2Settled is a partnership of local statutory (Council, health, police etc.) and non-statutory (charities, businesses, faith groups etc.) organisations in North Somerset. The organisations work together with a shared vision, values and mission to tackle homelessness in all its forms in North Somerset.
The partnership meets four times a year to work in collaboration and to look at specific issues that need solving regarding rough sleeping and homelessness.
Who are the members of the Street2Settled Partnership?
There are many members of the Street2Settled Partnership, each bringing their specific expertise to the table to collectively work together.
Salvation Army Employment Plus offers free, confidential employability support to adults 18+, it is entirely voluntary with one of our experienced coaches. Our goal is to support people to make positive changes to their lives, employment is not our only aim and we are not limited in how long we can support participants for.
KeySteps is a local Charity operating an essential Deposit Guarantee Scheme for people aged 18-65 without children in North Somerset who are homeless or threatened with homelessness. KeySteps will assist in securing property in the private rented sector and provides ongoing advice and support.
North Somerset Council’s Homeless Prevention Team provide housing advice and homelessness services. This includes commissioning the YMCA Outreach Rough Sleeping Service, enabling Housing First and Housing Led initiatives, and supporting Somewhere to Go with grant funding. Our key aim is prevent homelessness and rough sleeping where possible, we are only able to do this in partnership with other agencies.
Sirona Community Homeless Health Service – We are a small team providing health care and support for individuals who are homeless and in temporary accommodation. We run drop in clinics at Somewhere to Go and We Are With You and also work closely with other agencies. We provide an holistic approach and work with the individual to look at all of their needs.
The Safe Haven is a short-term Crisis and Recovery service, supporting clients who are experiencing Mental Health Crisis. The Safe Haven can offer support with Signposting clients to longer term support around their mental health. We support clients who are experiencing Suicidal Ideation and emotional distress. We recognise that social factors can have an impact on clients Mental Wellbeing.
Pappadoms Indian Takeaway is keen on supporting individuals rough sleeping and anybody are in food poverty. We are currently supplying food to Somewhere To Go and Feed The Homeless (WsM). We also support lot of other individuals and organisations that are working closely with families are in food poverty.
YMCA Weston provide an Outreach Service which goes out late at night and early in the morning, identifying people sleeping rough to support them to move away from the streets. Our priority is to get people into safe accommodation, as well as other services to address any issues, working closely with partner agencies to do so.
Jobcentre plus in Weston-Super-Mare and Clevedon are there to help people of working age find employment and provide support for those who are unable to work. They offer information about training opportunities, job vacancies and other employment support for the unemployed. They also administer working age benefits, e.g. Universal credit and disability benefits.
Weston Housing AcTion primarily assists tenants in private rented properties in issues with their landlords. Prevention of homelessness/rough sleeping is achieved by walking clients through the eviction process and addressing any problems in a holistic manner.
What does the partnership do and how?
- Curating a shared understanding of homelessness in North Somerset
- Ensuring the correct processes are in place for partners and other agencies to refer for assistance
- Focusing on prevention, and where not possible ensuring there are clear pathways out of homelessness for people
- Drawing upon national policy and research, being evidence based in our work and implementing locally where appropriate
- Align our work with local and national strategy in housing & homelessness
- Embedding lived experience into the development and improvement of our services
- Utilising data to understand the local demographic and causes of homelessness
- Being creative with accommodation solutions
- Communicating with our community, individuals, businesses, and organisations