Volunteers from The Renewal Centre, staff and residents from Solihull Community Housing – Solihull Council’s housing provider – and members of Solihull Council’s Community Development Team have combined forces to provide and deliver Christmas treats for local families in temporary accommodation for the third year running.
Cllr Alison Rolf, Cabinet Member for Stronger and Safer Communities, said: “We’ve prevented 235 households from becoming homeless this year and helped 710 people into long term housing but some families will unfortunately still be in temporary accommodation over Christmas. I hope that these Christmas treats will show them that we are still thinking about them while the search continues for permanent homes.
“Over the festive period more people will become homeless and at risk of sleeping rough through no fault of their own. Nobody needs to sleep rough in Solihull - throughout the Christmas period our out of hours arrangements will be in place for people in need of emergency temporary accommodation. Alongside this, our outreach team will continue to check the streets to find people who need help and support and encourage them to take up offers of accommodation.
“Please help us by supporting the regional campaign – ‘There’s a Better Way’. You can do this by contacting StreetLink – the national reporting system – if you see someone who is sleeping rough and by donating to Change into Action Solihull, which provides additional support to people who are sleeping rough or who are in danger of sleeping rough.”
Cllr Karen Grinsell, Deputy Leader of Solihull Council and Lead Member for Partnerships and Wellbeing said: “I would like to thank our friends at The Renewal Centre and our staff at Solihull Community Housing for making this festive act of kindness possible for a third year. It demonstrates what we can achieve when we all work together.”
To request advice and assistance if faced with homelessness and in need of emergency temporary accommodation, contact Solihull Community Housing (SCH) on 0121 717 1515 (24/7)
To make a donation to Change into Action Solihull visit - https://changeintoaction.org.uk/solihull/
If you see anyone sleeping rough please contact StreetLink via www.streetlink.org.uk/ or phone 0300 500 0914. The notification will go directly to a street outreach team who will follow up with an offer of help
If you think someone is in immediate danger always call 999.
For more information about the campaign ‘There’s a Better Way’, see - https://www.solihull.gov.uk/news/public-offered-better-way-help-rough-sleepers-winter