You are not alone

Homelessness is a nationwide problem, but it is the capital that bears the brunt of it - almost a quarter of the 53,000 homeless English households in priority need last year were in London.

The British Library yesterday played host to the 11th annual Andy Ludlow Homelessness Awards, run by London Councils and supported by Inside Housing. Six projects judged to provide innovative and creative solutions to homelessness in the capital shared a £43,000 prize.

Here, we showcase the winner and runners-up.

Winner

Broadway

Rapid intervention service for A8 and A2 migrants
Prize: £20,000

Whoever comes through our door, we’ll try and help them,’ says Broadway chief executive Howard Sinclair. His organisation went out on a limb to tackle the growing problem of homelessness among people from A8 and A2 countries - the eastern European states that joined the European Union in 2004 and 2007 respectively, but whose citizens have restricted rights to working or claiming benefits in the UK.

‘There was denial that there was any sort of problem at the time… some organisations found it very hard to cope with the demand.’

Broadway has worked with migrants from A8 countries such as Poland and Lithuania since they joined the EU in 2004, when its west London drop-in centre started seeing numbers surge. Today, with A2 countries Bulgaria and Romania having joined in 2007, 38 per cent of the homelessness charity’s clients are from eastern Europe. Four years ago that number was 5 per cent.

The charity launched the rapid intervention service for A8 and A2 migrants in 2005. Chief executive of the Barka Foundation Ewa Sadowska provides advice about living in this country and ensures workers are not exploited by employers.

But the main success of the service comes through the links it has forged with Poland-based charity the Barka Foundation. Barka offers language and cultural expertise enabling migrants to relocate back to their countries of origin. Broadway representatives visited Poland to see how Barka had set up projects for homeless people who had returned from London. Of the 684 people it has made contact with, 120 have been reconnected with their home country.

It has not been easy to find the annual £450,000 that it costs to run the centre and initially it was tricky to convince funders and government that there was a problem with homeless eastern Europeans.

‘I had a wonderful meeting in our offices with civil servants from the Communities and Local Government department where I said they couldn’t sit on some particular chairs because they were our chairs and only Polish people could sit on them,’ says Mr Sinclair. ‘But they could sit on these other ones because they were funded by the government. The point was that this is a nonsense, this is people in need.’ More funding was forthcoming.

The judges were impressed with Broadway’s proactive approach. Panel member Don Wood, chair of the London Housing Foundation, says: ‘Once again, this year’s Andy Ludlow Awards have attracted an exceptional standard of entries and we have a groundbreaking winner in Broadway.’

Runners-up

King George’s Hostel

English Churches Housing Group
Prize: £10,000

King George’s Hostel in Westminster accommodates up to 68 homeless men with high support needs. King George’s staff found themselves handling an increasing number of chaotic, long-term drug users. Their response was the Gateway programme.

Begun in spring 2007, this six-week residents’ induction course covers overdose management, drug use and harm reduction with a view to moving residents onto drug-free independent living.

As well as music and art sessions, residents have taken up gardening and taken part in physical activities run by British Military Fitness. The no-nonsense approach has proven a hit with residents.

The hostel enjoys an almost 70 per cent success rate of positive engagement with highly chaotic clients, and overdose levels have fallen.

King George’s plans to use half its prize money to fund a roof garden with the rest going towards expanding the fitness training.

Derek Caren, English Churches Housing Group’s managing director, says: ‘ECHG’s team at King George’s has delivered incredible results by listening to its clients’ views and by taking an entrepreneurial approach.’

Community host scheme

South London YMCA
Prize: £10,000

South London YMCA’s community host scheme scoops the other £10,000 runner-up prize. Launched in October 2007, it has recruited more than 20 host families from black and minority ethnic backgrounds to provide lodgings and support for more than 20 16 and 17-year-old homeless BME people.

The scheme is funded by Lambeth and Southwark councils in south London, and it operates in these areas. Vulnerable young people, for whom returning home is not an option, are placed with hosts after being referred by the councils.

The young people find role models in their hosts and can stay for up to two years. ‘But we’re finding that because of the high level of support they get, they’re ready to move on after a year,’ says Bernadette Keane, director of services at South London YMCA.

She adds that the young people’s aspirations have risen as a result and many go on to university. The scheme has been used by girls who have been sexually abused and need to live in a female-only environment, or those rejected by their families because of their sexuality.

Host families receive £100 per week along with training and support sessions where they can discuss issues with other hosts - such as whether to allow their guests to have partners stay over. South London YMCA chief executive Jeremy Gray says the ‘genuine enthusiasm and passion of the hosts’ is a major factor in the scheme’s success.

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