Campaign highlights homeless

The plight of homeless people in Market Rasen will be highlighted as part of a national campaign this month.
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The campaign is being run by housing associations across the country to raise awareness of the continuing need for affordable housing.

Axiom Housing, which owns the hostel, Market Rasen House in King Street, is a member of the recently formed Homes for Cathy group.

The group is a national alliance of 14 housing associations set up following the 1966 BBC television drama of “Cathy Come Home”, which will mark its 50th anniversary this month.

The production highlighted the desperate tale of a family torn apart by homelessness and it inspired people to form housing associations in their local communities up and down the country.

Although housing associations have been a force for good in tackling homelessness, more still needs to be done according to Alan Lewin, Chief Executive at Axiom Housing Association.

“Despite housing associations and others building hundreds of thousands of homes over the last 50 years, the problem of homelessness has not gone away,” said Mr Lewin.

“Nationally more and more families are being accepted as homeless by local authorities, and last Christmas over 100,000 children were in temporary accommodation.”

The Homes for Cathy group has been working with charities such as Shelter and the National Housing Federation to raise awareness of this growing need in the lead up to the Cathy Come Home anniversary, and beyond.

“We also want to highlight the positive work that we do through schemes like Market Rasen House to save vulnerable people from homelessness and support them to be able to live independently,” added Mr Lewin.

Market Rasen House provides both emergency and non-emergency hostel accommodation for homeless people aged 18 and over.

It gives priority support to those from the West Lindsey district and then the wider Lincolnshire county.

You don’t have to be sleeping rough to be homeless - you could be sofa surfing, in emergency accommodation or living in a squat.

People can become homeless for all sorts of reasons.

Some young people are homeless because they’ve been thrown out of home whilst others have run away from home.

And sometimes it can be whole families who become homeless.

Find out more about the Homes for Cathy group on Twitter and Facebook or log on to www.homesforcathy.org.uk

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