Thanet District Council awarded over £3.8million to help rough sleepers

Thanet District Council has been awarded £3,808,270 of funding by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, through the Rough Sleeping Initiative.

The Rough Sleeping Initiative provides local councils with long-term funding to support those sleeping rough or at risk of rough sleeping. The funding covers 2022-25 and this is the first time that it has been awarded for multiple years. 

The three-year funding will allow the council to plan further ahead and work towards the government’s goal of ending rough sleeping by 2025. The funding will allow for earlier intervention to help prevent vulnerable people from becoming rough sleepers, and to support current rough sleepers into accommodation. 

The council’s support for rough sleepers is delivered by RISE, an award winning multi-agency team which brings together staff from the council’s homeless and landlord liaison services teams with support workers and partner organisations including Serveco, Forward Trust, Invicta Healthcare, Paramount Independent Properties and Porchlight.

Since its inception, RISE has supported almost 1,150 individuals with 33,704 support activities, such as registering with GPs, setting up bank accounts and attending drug or alcohol support groups. 

Cllr Jill Bayford, Cabinet Member for Housing, said: “This funding is critical in allowing us to provide the support that, unfortunately, is needed by increasing numbers of people across the district. The rising cost of rent, utilities and food are likely to mean that we see an even higher need for homeless support in the future. This three-year funding will help us to plan further ahead, and to put the best possible help in place for everyone that needs it.”

To let us know about a rough sleeper who you believe is in need of help, please call 01843 577277 with as much information as possible about the location of the individual you are calling about. This number is available 24 hours a day.

If you have a property with shared or self-contained facilities that you think may provide suitable accommodation, please email roughsleeping@thanet.gov.uk

You can find out more about RISE on our website.