Plymouth - rough sleeping champions

Plymouth is championing the prevention and tackling of rough sleeping through sharing the expertise of its key partners, Shekinah Mission and PATH (Plymouth Access To Housing). 

The two organisations represent a wider local partnership and have particular expertise in:

• An assertive approach to outreach work with those on the street. Path is joined by PCSOs for outreach and ongoing sharing of intelligence, with weekly sharing of information to wider partners through established systems
• A ‘delivery hub’ at Plymouth’s Shekinah Mission acts as a base where services are able for rough sleepers - such as substance abuse treatment; mobile dental groups and GP services; chiropody and podiatry; and employment advice and activities
• Partnership work with Supporting People to enable hostels and supported accommodation to be accessed by rough sleepers whose behaviour challenges services, and to develop alternative accommodation options for rough sleepers including the ability to access private rented accommodation
• Plymouth Access to Housing (Path) have developed a sustainable, not-for-profit letting agency in Plymouth, charging landlords competitive fees and creating an easier route into privately-rented housing
• Shekinah Mission has been able to enhance its ‘Steady Work’ scheme to tackle worklessness – and is now training people with a history of rough sleeping to develop skills and trades, with current work including taking on maintenance contracts and developing saleable products e.g. ‘Wood Not Waste’ which recycles wood into furniture. 
• The principles of social enterprise have been a focus for the design of the city’s new direct access hostel, which received ‘Places of Change’ funding, where former rough sleepers skilled in building trades through Shekinah’s ‘Steady Work’ Scheme will be employed to build the hostel, and the hostel design incorporates a social enterprise garden and opportunities for bicycle refurbishment. 
• The Shekinah Mission’s drop in centre is a nationally renowned centre of expertise with regard to rough sleepers, with pathways to employment successfully achieved by forging links with local employers to enable supported work placements, and by providing training which targets skills that employers in the city need, but where there is currently a deficit.