Prince William’s five-year programme that aims to demonstrate it’s possible to end homelessness – making it rare, brief and unrepeated – marked its first year of progress with a special event in Lambeth yesterday. Attending as representatives of The Archer Project were Chris Lynam, who is a Peer Mentor and Printed by Us employee, and Tim Renshaw, charity CEO.
As Sheffield is one of Homewards’ six flagship locations (alongside Aberdeen; Bournemouth, Christchurch & Poole; Lambeth; Newport; and Northern Ireland), Chris and Tim were joined by other guests from Sheffield including Deputy Lord Mayor, Safiya Saeed and Martin McKervey of Sheffield Property Association.
The Prince heard about the work of each of these locations, before delivering a speech in which he talked about how inspirational Chris was in communicating his own story of lived experience and growth, when the two of them met during Prince William’s visit to Sheffield earlier this year.
Chris then spoke in depth with Homewards advocate, Professor Sabrina Cohen-Hatton in an exclusive fireside chat in front of attendees. Chris and Sabrina discussed their shared experiences of having lived on the street, and the progress they’d each made in the years since.
As part of the day, there was a guided visit to Centrepoint’s Reuben House, a purpose-built development with 33 flats for young people who’d previously been facing homelessness. Chris found it ”really interesting to see affordable, low-cost housing is available and possible.”
Joined by Alex Cook of Sheffield City Council and David Bussue of SACMHA Health & Social Care, Chris and Tim heard about the Independent Living Programme, which ensures rent is capped at no more than a third of salaries for the residents, who are all working full time or on apprenticeships. Chris added: “If we put our minds to it, we can do it!”
For organisations like The Archer Project, supporting people who are facing extreme circumstances is becoming increasingly challenging at a time when homelessness figures in Sheffield are record-breaking. Tim reflected on the day, saying: ”There isn’t a lot of hope in homeless services at the moment. All the statistics are going the wrong way.
“Yesterday was a moment of light – the progress report on the first year of Homewards activity heard from determined politicians; businesses speaking the language of compassion; grassroots stories of prevention work and post-homelessness success and growth. It will take hard work. But when you work every day with people who should have better lives, you know it’s a programme worth committing to.”
The Royal Foundation’s CEO, Amanda Berry said: “Over the last year we have been working in partnership with six locations across the UK, bringing people and organisations together to create the foundations on which to build long-term change. Inspired by our belief that it is possible to end homelessness, we are already demonstrating what can be achieved if we all work together.”
Hundreds of individuals and organisations have pledged support for the programme in its first year; in particular Chris said it was “very encouraging to hear about Homebase’s pledge to provide 1,500 starter packs to support people moving into new homes.”
Year two of the programme will see each coalition develop and begin delivering on specific plans for their area, based on local needs and priorities. Sheffield’s plans include exploration of how to prevent young people and families from experiencing homelessness and drive greater access to housing with grassroots community groups at the heart of that work.
