Fight against homelessness and rough sleeping gets cash boost
Tackling homelessness and rough sleeping in the district received a £434,000 cash boost from the government today (Friday 10 October).
The extra money, announced on World Homelessness Day, will enable the council to ramp up measures even further to help vulnerable people who are sleeping rough, at risk of sleeping rough or returning to sleeping rough even further including:
- more prevention work with those in insecure housing or who are sofa surfing
- more outreach, ie talking to and supporting those who might need help
- more accommodation
- more wraparound care
Over the past 12 months, Canterbury City Council has made 109 placements into accommodation for 79 individual rough sleepers.
It has supported many more in other ways such as accessing healthcare and claiming benefits.
Welcoming the £434,288 from the Rough Sleeping Prevention and Recovery Grant, Canterbury City Council’s Director for People, Marie Royle, said: “Our teams work hard every day to support rough sleepers or those at risk of rough sleeping.
“We are working tirelessly towards ending rough sleeping for good and this money will allow us to do even more work in the community.
“There are myriad reasons why people become vulnerable and end up sleeping rough and we need to do all we can to help them.
“Challenges with mental health, physical health and addiction can all be barriers to accessing support but that will never stop us.
“We look forward to continuing our work with the voluntary and community sector to make the most of this grant and maximise the number of people this money can help.”
Before the announcement, the council had already:
- established a dedicated outreach provision to support individuals experiencing rough sleeping
- provided personalised budgets to help individuals access suitable accommodation
- commissioned 62 supported bed spaces across the district
- paid for emergency accommodation for those awaiting access to long-term housing
- introduced Tenancy Sustainment Workers to support the recovery of individuals affected by rough sleeping when a home is found
- enabled access to a rent deposit scheme
- supported individuals admitted to hospital who have no place to be discharged to
For people worried about anyone they see sleeping rough, the quickest and easiest way to let the council know is through the Streetlink website or app.
Published: 10 October 2025