Staffs Housing sign up to help end homelessness

We've teamed up with homeless charity, Concrete, to sign a national pledge to help raise awareness of the needs of homeless people.

We’re proud to be a member of ‘Homes for Cathy’ - a national alliance of housing associations charities dedicated to help end homelessness.

Working with Concrete, who are also part of Honeycomb Group, we're working towards the 9 commitments set out by Homes for Cathy. These include making sure any home we offer to someone who is homeless is ready to move into, and working with other organisations in the area to support ending homelessness. These commitments are helping to shape and develop our policies and practices. 

Dave Allcock, Housing Manager at Staffs Housing, said: "We have signed up to demonstrate our organisations commitment to tackling and resolving homelessness in all its forms.

"We believe that we already meet the commitments of the Homes for Cathy pledge but we continue to strive to make a greater contribution to resolve homelessness locally and nationally.

"Homelessness is a huge social issue affecting our towns and cities and despite it being over 50 years since the original screening of Cathy Come Home it remains a major problem and is more visible than ever. Our aim is to continue to work in partnerships with local authorities, housing providers and policymakers and most importantly with people at risk of homelessness and those who are already homeless.

Sarah Forshaw, Head of Homelessness and Complex Needs at Concrete said: "Its great to see Staffs Housing supporting the Homes for Cathy pledge. A housing association whose approach is well aligned with the 9 commitments and will inspire others to support ending homelessness.

"Staffs Housing play a significant role in the work Concrete do around securing safe, secure affordable homes and reducing the risk of future repeated homelessness. They already support Stoke-on-Trent’s Housing First pilot, an approach which will be expanded on in 2020 in providing homes for the Cities care leavers.

"We are proud to work alongside Staffs Housing in our mission to make homelessness history."

Homes for Cathy was formed in 2016 to mark the 50th anniversary of the influential Ken Loach film, Cathy Come Home. The film led to a public outcry about the problem of homelessness when it was released and housing associations were formed up and down the country in response. Find out more about Homes for Cathy here.