GCH (Gloucester City Homes) is thrilled to be the first organisation to claim a Government grant totalling £1.7million as part of the Next Steps Accommodation Programme (NSAP) to provide 37 safe units of accommodation to prevent rough sleepers from returning to the streets.
The grant will allow delivery of 37 new units at three unused buildings across Gloucester, at St Michaels Square (City Centre), Burleigh House (City Centre) and Olympus Park (Quedgeley), before April 2021.
As part of the Governments ‘Everyone in’ initiative, around 15,000 people who were sleeping rough have been placed into emergency accommodation throughout the COVID-19 Pandemic. The Next Steps Accommodation Programme has been put into place to support local authorities to prevent these people from returning to rough sleeping.
The accommodation will be designed to provide temporary housing that will support and enable moves into permanent homes.
Robert Panou, Head of Assets and Development at GCH comments “We are really pleased to get started on this project to provide much needed long-term accommodation for those who were rough sleeping in Gloucester. The Pandemic has shown a great response to providing accommodation for those who are in the unfortunate position of finding themselves homeless and we are really excited to improve their future prospects. This will bring positive benefits to Gloucester as a City.”