Over £100k grant helps tackle youth homelessness in the capital
A charity taking a holistic approach to helping London’s young homeless people get off the streets has received a large cash boost for its successful programme.
City Bridge Trust, the City of London Corporation’s charitable funder, awarded Centrepoint £107,100, for its innovative work tackling youth homelessness in London.
The funding will enable Centrepoint to continue its Dual Diagnosis programme, which currently runs in: Hammersmith & Fulham, Brent, Ealing, Harrow, Lambeth and Wandsworth. The initiative supports homeless young people who are misusing substances, and issues around mental health.
The programme provides focused interventions for homeless young people who experience problems in these areas and treats them together rather than as separate issues. It offers specific interventions focusing on helping people keep their tenancies and tailors its support to each young person’s individual needs. The project also includes training of frontline staff so that they know when to refer young people to the programme.
Part of the funding will go towards activities such as a structured sports programme to help young people replace substance abuse or manage triggers.
The Dual Diagnosis programme supports young people aged 16-25 all across London. Over 80% of people who accessed the service last year reported a positive change in their wellbeing, and a 78% reduction in their substance use.
Dhruv Patel, Chairman of the City of London Corporation’s City Bridge Trust Committee, said:
“Centrepoint has considerable experience of working with homeless young people in London.
“Its programme has already started to bridge the gap between mental health and substance misuse issues and has achieved earlier positive interventions with young people. This innovative approach has proven successful.
“City Bridge Trust is committed to tackling disadvantage and inequality in London, and we will continue to support charities making the capital a better place in which to live.”
Elaine Scola, Dual Diagnosis Practitioner, at Centrepoint, said:
“Centrepoint is delighted to receive this grant, which will enable us to continue our Dual Diagnosis programme, supporting young people who are misusing substances, and who have mental health issues.
“Many of the young people we work with have experienced trauma, abuse or family relationship breakdown, and so can have complex mental health needs and substance abuse issues.
“It can be difficult to receive holistic support for these issues in the community, even though they are so often interlinked, so we are extremely proud to be able to offer this service to young people at Centrepoint.”
Feedback from young people who have accessed the programme includes:
“I feel that my cannabis use is much more under control now and sometimes I can go a couple of days without smoking with no problems.”
“I feel more settled in the hostel now and able to focus on myself a bit more”
“I feel like my life is getting back on track.”
“I’m much more in control of my life now I’ve made huge changes to my substance use.”
Centrepoint is a leading national charity for homeless young people and provides accommodation and a range of support services to help young people find a settled way of life. It supports 15,000 young people each year directly and through partners, on a range of issues such as health, education, employment and participation. The organisation works directly in London, Manchester, Yorkshire and the North East.
City Bridge Trust is the funding arm of the City of London Corporation’s charity, Bridge House Estates.
It is London’s biggest independent grant giver, making grants of £20 million a year to tackle disadvantage across the capital.
The Trust has awarded around 8,000 grants totalling over £400 million since it first began in 1995. It helps achieve the City Corporation’s aim of changing the lives of hundreds of thousands of Londoners.
ENDS
Media Enquiries
Kristina Drake
Media Officer, City of London Corporation
07710860884 / 020 7332 1125
Notes to editors
About the City of London Corporation:
The City of London Corporation is the governing body of the Square Mile dedicated to a vibrant and thriving City, supporting a diverse and sustainable London within a globally successful UK.
About City Bridge Trust
City Bridge Trust is the funding arm of Bridge House Estates, a Registered Charity, with its primary aim the maintenance and support of five Thames bridges: Tower Bridge, London Bridge, Southwark, Blackfriars and the Millennium footbridge.
City Bridge Trust was established in 1995 to make use of funds surplus to bridge requirements and provides grants totalling around £20m per year towards charitable activity benefitting Greater London. The City of London Corporation is the sole trustee of the Bridge House Estates.
Full list of grants:
Community Links Bromley £191,630
Body & Soul £60,000
CLIC Sargent £254,000
Ealing Law Centre £108,000
Latin American Women’s Rights Service £82,900
North Kensington Law Centre £100,000
Children England £279,520
Claremont Project £98,800
Covent Garden Dragon Hall Trust £66,000
Crafts Council £100,000
CREATE London £58,000
Headway East London £102,230
Irish Elderly Advice Network £150,000
Islington Boat Club £54,600
London Legal Support Trust £464,000
St Gabriel’s Parish House Trust £100,000
Stepney City Farm £191,800
Stratford Circus Arts Centre £72,000
The French Protestant Church of London £98,500
The Horse Rangers Association Limited £109,000
Young Barnet Foundation £200,000
Young Brent Foundation £200,000
Young Ealing Foundation £220,000
Young Harrow Foundation £200,000
Young Westminster Foundation £200,000
Advocacy in Greenwich £147,400
Albert Kennedy Trust £57,500
British Refugee Council £79,200
Centrepoint Soho £107,100
Embrace CVOC (Child Victims of Crime) £48,800
Evergreen Play Association Ltd £46,200
Islington Mind £181,200
Nafsiyat Intercultural Therapy Centre £66,000
Prison Advice and Care Trust £132,000
Shpresa Programme £52,000
St Clement and St James Community Development Project £95,000
Sycamore Trust U.K. £90,000
Trailblazers Mentoring Ltd £71,000
Waterloo Community Counselling £80,000
London Legal Support Trust £345,000
Participatory City Foundation £450,000
SEUK £200,000
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