North Kesteven council pledges homelessness to be gone by Christmas

The council received a £600,000 government grant this year to help tackle homelessness and rough sleepers in the district.

The council’s Communities and Economy Overview and Scrutiny Panel on Wednesday was told how Change4Lincs will work alongside the Rough Sleeper Project to support rough sleepers or people at risk of becoming homeless in the winter.

The campaign was launched on October 12 and covers the areas of North Kesteven, South Kesteven, South Holland and West Lindsey.

It provides a support service, outreach service, emergency accommodation as well as move-on accommodation.

This has built upon the Everybody In Scheme, which has managed to house 12 people since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

Coun Peter Lundgren said that “the idea of no rough sleepers about at Christmas [means] we could actually look like a first-world economy”.

He added that “Essentially we had a five-year plan for homelessness as a county and we seem to have achieved it in six months. The outcome is phenomenal.”

Julia Miller, Assistant Housing Services Manager praised Change4Lincs for being a huge benefit to rough sleepers and said, “already we are achieving positive results in securing accommodation.”