Manchester Homelessness Partnership E-bulletin: June 2025 (edited) You can read the full version of the June 2025 e-bulletin here. Our Action Groups and ongoing workReal Change MCR Action GroupWe are looking for people to join this action group to support our communications and fundraising activities for Real Change MCR. The action group is meeting online every 3rd Tuesday of the month for an hour. If you are interested in joining us, please email val@macc.org.ukMigration and Homelessness Action GroupThe next action group meeting will be taking place in July. If you are interested in attending, please email val@macc.org.ukMental Health Action GroupWe are restarting this action group with a meeting due to take place on Tuesday 1 July 2025 from 2pm online. If you are interested in attending, please email val@macc.org.ukEmployment Action GroupThis month, Smart Works Greater Manchester joined the online group meeting.Smart Works Greater Manchester are a women’s employment charity that provides free, high-quality interview clothes and coaching to support unemployed women to succeed at their job interview. If you would like to chat about how you can work with Smart Works, please email cara.mahon@smartworks.org.uk. You can sign up to their partner mailing list here. Change Please is looking for independent coffee shops to partner with, or organisations that have kitchen space for training sessions. If you would like further information, please email Jake at jake.p@changeplease.org.Migrant Destitution Fund Since reopening in October 2024, 110-180 people have been accessing the fund per month. As long as the government goes on using destitution as a weapon of immigration control, we are committed to provide cash grants to support people to access the essentials we all need to live. Thank you to our brilliant network of referral partners across Greater Manchester who provide welcome, community, and safety. And thanks to Manchester Community Central who provide a home for the fund and administer it. If you can, please consider making a regular donation. Women’s Homelessness Involvement Group Join us in raising our voices for involvement and change on Thursday 26 June from 2pm at the Booth Centre, Edward Holt House, Pimblett Street, M3 1FU. Health and HomelessnessSupporting individuals during hot weatherAnyone can become unwell when the weather is hot. However, people who are at higher risk of becoming seriously unwell include:– People with underlying health conditions– People on certain medications– People with serious mental health needs – People who are using drugs and alcohol– People experiencing homelessness, including those sleeping rough and those who are unable to make adaptations to their living accommodation such as people who sofa surf or live in hostels.People experiencing homelessness are at a heightened risk of developing heat-related illnesses due their inability to keep cool (owing to a lack of shelter) and reduced access to showers and drinking water.Read how to recognising heat related illnesses in people experiencing homelessness here and further information from Homeless Link.British Red Cross – Supporting people who have attended A&E 3 or more timesBritish Red Cross have been commissioned to provide person centred, face to face support to residents of Greater Manchester who have attended Accident and Emergency 3 or more times in the previous three months at Wythenshawe Hospital, North Manchester General and/or Manchester Royal Infirmary. They provide non-clinical support to those who are experiencing unmet social needs, the service offers time limited, independence focused interventions, with the aim of preventing and reducing attendances, improving quality of life, wellbeing and engagement with appropriate services. Individuals need to be over 18 and have a Manchester or Trafford GP and individuals must have consented to and have capacity to consent to a referral for support prior to a referral form being sent. All referral forms must be completed in full with Accident and Emergency attendance numbers and if possible dates of the attendances to allow us to fully triage the referral.Exclusion criteria:– Aggressive behaviour that would be a risk to lone working– Current clinical unstable mental health crisis– Under 18– End of life, palliative careThey are happy to discuss potential referrals over the phone and you can contact Annette on 07808 204698 or email annette.greenwood@nhs.net Once consent has been obtained and a referral form completed please email this to annette.greenwood@nhs.netTackling Period Poverty for People Facing HomelessnessA new Period Literacy Toolkit has just launched to offer practical support and restore dignity for those experiencing period poverty and homelessness. Authored by Thea Raisbeck Head of Research and Best Practice at Spring Housing Association Limited. The resource was produced by Birmingham City Council and Spring Housing Association, in partnership with Public Health.What’s inside?💡 Practical steps for services📦 Tips on products, pouches, and disposal🗣️ How to talk about menstrual health with empathy🤝 Ways to collaborate locallyPublic Health Report ManchesterThis report describes the progress made over the past couple of years using examples of the ‘Making Manchester Fairer approach’ in action. The Making Manchester Fairer plan includes actions within eight key themes to build the foundations of health in communities. It also includes their early initiatives known as the Kickstarters – projects to ‘kickstart’ delivery and exemplify the approach. The report is a recognition and thanks to the diverse communities and teams working together to improve health equity in the city.TB and HomelessnessThis resource from Groundswell has information on TB symptoms, treatment and how you can catch it. If you want to know more, the resource is available here. Their resources are aimed at people experiencing homelessness and those who support them.Homeless Dental Outreach ClinicsPlease note new opening times and that Revive is now trading as Rodericks Dental Partners.Rodericks Dental Partners runs Homeless Outreach Clinics from the Ancoats Primary Care Centre every Tuesday and Wednesday. – Tuesday from 10am till 12pm– Wednesday from 9am till 11.00amThese clinics are emergency clinics to get the patient out of pain. People can turn up between these times, sit and wait to be seen. Call 0161 274 1655 for further information. The address is First Floor, Ancoats Primary Care Centre, Old Mill Street, Manchester, M4 6EE. On arrival, people are asked to go to the community desk and let reception know they are coming to the outreach dental and they will be let upstairs. Migration and HomelessnessMigrants Guide: A resource made with migrants, for migrants – PraxisPraxis is proud to share their Migrants Guide with you – not just as a tool but because it was built by people who’ve been there, who chose to channel their experiences into something hopeful and helpful for others. “The hostile environment reduces you to nothing, it feels as though you are surrounded by only closed doors. You find yourself stuck and yet you still have to live, so what do you do? That is why we decided to create this guide.” Olivia, co-creator of A Migrant’s Guide.RESS Year 2 Impact Report – The Boaz Trust, GMIAU and the Booth CentreAt the end of the Restricted Eligibility Support Service’s second year, they have been so encouraged to see the impact that this work continues to have on the lives people experiencing or at risk of homelessness as a result of their immigration status. Through RESS, they work with people from non-EEA countries both inside and outside of the asylum system. This includes people seeking asylum, people refused asylum, people whose leave has expired or been revoked and people with unclear, unknown or changing immigration statuses. RESS combines immigration advice (delivered by GMIAU) with specialist outreach support (delivered by Boaz Trust and the Booth Centre). Together, they work in partnership to help Greater Manchester residents facing immigration-related barriers to navigate complex systems in order to move on from homelessness, live well and thrive. During 2024-25, the Boaz Trust supported a total of 245 people through RESS. They also saw 41 positive housing outcomes where people have accessed safe accommodation through support from Boaz, often after having no choice but to sleep outside. According to data from Greater Manchester Combined Authority, 1 in 2 people referred for advice and practical support from RESS were already experiencing homelessness. Of those supported this year, 70 per cent were non-EEA nationals. You can read more about the impact that RESS has had in the past year here. LGBTQ+ and HomelessnessResearch from Stonewall shows that almost one in five LGBTQ+ people have experienced homelessness at some point in their lives. All of us should have a safe, decent home. But pressures like low incomes and high rents put many of us under constant strain – which can build up and push us into homelessness. Some of us face additional pressures because of who we are, which put us at greater risk of experiencing homelessness. Those of us who are LGBTQ+ are more likely to experience homelessness. Rates are even higher amongst trans people, with 25% having experienced homelessness at some point. According to akt, 77 per cent of LGBTQ+ young people gave, ‘family rejection, abuse or being asked to leave home’ as a cause of their homelessness. When we experience social disadvantages, rejection or discrimination because of who we are, we are less likely to have the resources we need to withstand the pressures that can push us into homelessness. Read the full article here from Crisis. Probation and HomelessnessHousing First is crucial for supporting people to stop reoffending (15 May 2025)We need a joined-up approach to funding for those who have experience of the criminal justice system, says Ursula Ralph, Housing First service manager at Jigsaw Homes as part of the Reset Homelessness campaign. Read the full article here.Resources CORE20PLUS5 Probation Animation and PostersPeople in non-custodial community settings under the supervision of the Probation Service experience significant health inequalities and multiple disadvantages. To support them, the NHS Healthcare Inequalities Improvement Programme has created several resources, including five animations and posters on heart health, lung conditions, cancer, mental health and stopping smoking. These resources can be accessed here. Blogs, Guidance, Policies, Polls, Reports and VideosReport : A smarter approach to homelessness – Institute for Government and Centre for Homelessness Impact – This report looks at trends in spending on homelessness prevention programmes, assesses the barriers to these and makes recommendations for how these can be overcome.Report:Homelessness and the Language of StigmaThe Centre for Homelessness Impact supported work from academics from King’s College London to understand how language and its context can create and reinforce stigma associated with homelessness. This project looked at thousands of social media posts which expressed views about homelessness. People with experience of homelessness identified a minority they judged to be stigmatising. The authors analysed these to create a typology of how the use of language can contribute to and entrench stigma. The researchers used this to create a checklist with prompts and advice on how we can better report on and discuss homelessness in a non-stigmatising way.Report: A Better Vision for Temporary Accommodation – JustlifeShort. Safe. Healthy. It’s time to fix temporary accommodation.Across the UK, thousands of people are living in temporary accommodation (TA) that’s anything but temporary. Stays are too long. Standards are too low. And too many people are stuck in places that damage their health, wellbeing and sense of control.This needs to change. At Justlife, we believe temporary accommodation should be a safety net that protects people in crisis, not one that causes more harm. But with demand rising and resources stretched, the system is struggling. This work is based on hundreds of hours of consultation with 88 individuals working in the sector, and 43 individuals with lived experience of staying in TA. In this report we set out their views on the issues of key concern, suggesting routes out of the current crisis to create a better vision for temporary accommodation. Read the full report here. Article: Preventing homelessness is less costly than the cure – Centre for Homelessness Impact and Financial TimesPrevention is better than cure, or so the saying goes. The US version is more specific: an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. That phrase is attributed to Benjamin Franklin, from a letter to a newspaper in 1735 advocating investment in preventing fires. But making a case for it can be challenging. Deciding between spending on prevention and spending on demand-led activity means comparing something that has not happened to something that has. It is hard to prove Franklin’s trade-off. And yet the case for spending to prevent homelessness is one of the great challenges, and great opportunities, facing UK chancellor Rachel Reeves as she prepares for the spending review on Wednesday. Click here to read the full article. Research: Exploring Perspectives Regarding Death Cafes for People Experiencing HomelessnessNew qualitative research has been published which explores the perspectives of people experiencing homelessness, and the professionals that support them, on the potential acceptability, benefits and challenges of death cafes. Members of Pathway’s lived experience group, along with Pathway Fellows Dr Caroline Shulman and Dr Briony Hudson, were involved in the research. You can read the research here.Blog: A Bright Future Threatened By Eviction from BarnabusJust two weeks ago Fred* was working part time whilst he studied, he was just months away from finishing a two year course in beauty therapy. He had been living in his flat for years and was excited to start a new career once he finished his studies. Suddenly, he found himself on the streets at risk of losing it all. Read Fred’s story here on the Barnabus website. Are you a tenant in the Private Rented Sector in Greater Manchester?Do you want to help landlords improve standards for tenants? The Greater Manchester Good Landlord Charter aims to raise renting standards across Greater Manchester by supporting landlords to achieve higher standards than the minimum they are required to meet by law. It is open to all residential landlords, raising expectations of what renting can be like across Greater Manchester. It will help tenants find a landlord who is committed to setting an example to show that renting can be better. The Greater Manchester Good Landlord Charter is setting up a Tenant Advisory Group. They are looking for people who rent in the private sector to take part and have their voice heard. You can read further information here. Post navigation Manchester Homelessness Partnership E-bulletin: May 2025 (edited)Manchester Homelessness Partnership E-bulletin: July 2025 (edited)
