Meeting the Housing-Related Support Needs of Homeless People in the North East

Irving, Adele

Abstract

The Policy and Representation Partnership is led by Voluntary Organisations’ Network North East
(VONNE) and funded by the Big Lottery. The Partnership aims to help the voluntary and community
sector (VCS) increase its influence on public policy through quarterly policy forum events, training
sessions, researching policy areas and sharing information. In July 2011, the Partnership
commissioned the Cyrenians and Northumbria University to undertake a project, entitled ‘Meeting the
Housing-Related Support Needs of Homeless People in the North East, to help increase the VCS’s
influence on policy and practice in relation to ‘homelessness’. The project aimed to:

- Improve the sector’s awareness of the national and local picture of homelessness.
- Identify the impacts of public sector funding cuts on the capacity of local authorities (LAs) and VCS
organisations in the North East to meet the needs of homeless people.
- Provide an opportunity for stakeholders to think collectively about how to continue to meet needs
at a time of new challenges and opportunities, through critical discussion and the sharing of good
practice.

To achieve this, the project team undertook a review of national and local policy documents and
research reports; interviews with strategic leads and service commissioners in eight LAs across the
North East; developed a survey which was completed by 35 VCS organisations; and ran two regional
workshops, attended by approximately 80 individuals from across the North East.

In order to incorporate the views of service users into the project, Northumbria University undertook a
related piece of research, which – using the Cyrenians as a case study – aimed to assess the value of
housing-related support services and identity ‘what works’ in supporting service users to achieve
independence. The team analysed 238 short-term client outcomes records, completed 19 interviews
with staff and service users and calculated the ‘social return on investment’ of services.

The following report summarises the key findings and policy messages emerging from both pieces of
work.

Citation

Irving, A. (2013). Meeting the Housing-Related Support Needs of Homeless People in the North East. Cyrenians, Newcastle

• Report Type: Research Report
• Publication Date: Mar 27, 2013
• Deposit Date: Aug 30, 2024