People in Rugby are now benefitting from a new scheme to address homelessness and support healthy eating and financial planning.Warwickshire County Council has worked with Rugby Borough Council to ...
People in Rugby are now benefitting from a new scheme to address homelessness and support healthy eating and financial planning.
Warwickshire County Council has worked with Rugby Borough Council to award funding to local charity Hope 4 following a report into the health needs of the area, which identified food poverty and risk of homelessness as key local concerns.
Tackling the causes of homelessness is a priority for the county council, with funding allocated to address the factors that can lead to rough sleeping across Warwickshire. In Rugby, results from the recent Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) which is conducted by WCC in partnership with health organisations, charities and people living in the community, identified access to healthy food, support for financial planning within families and homelessness as key issues for the area.
In light of the recommendations detailed in the JSNA, WCC has allocated funding to Hope 4, a charity which runs a day centre, foodbank and winter shelter in Rugby. This additional funding will allow Hope 4 to conduct ‘Healthy eating on a budget’ sessions with people dealing with food poverty and insecure housing over the next twelve months. The programme will form part of the pre and post tenancy support programme for customers of Hope 4.
Councillor Les Caborn, WCC Portfolio Holder for Health and Wellbeing, said: “We want to tackle the root causes of homelessness and give people skills to build their resilience and minimise their risk of becoming homeless in the future. The funding that has been given to this project will help people on three fronts by teaching healthy eating and budgeting skills as well as providing practical assistance to help those who are currently homeless get back on their feet.
“I also want to draw attention to the JSNA - without local members of the community taking the time to participate in the survey and let us know what is needed in their area, it would be much more difficult for us to know where this funding should be focused. The JSNA is still going on, and I would really encourage everybody to take five minutes to fill it out and help us make sure services are directed where they are needed most.”
To provide information about the health and social needs of your local area, please go to http://bit.ly/JSNAResidents
To find out more about the work of Hope 4, go to http://www.hope4.me.uk