Roundabout receives £380,000 in Lottery Funding!

We’re incredibly excited to announce that our charity will be receiving £380,054 for our Youth Homelessness Prevention Project! Around £49 million from the Big Lottery Fund will be shared amongst organisations across England and the funding will support them to help improve their local communities and the lives of people most in need. We’re delighted to have been successful so we can continue to help vulnerable young people in Sheffield.

Our charity is strongly committed to preventing young people from being homeless in the first place. That’s why, in June 2014, we opened the Youth Homeless Prevention Service to offer advice and support to young people aged 16 to 24.

 “For around 65% of the young people we support, the main reason they become homeless is due to having problems with the family and relationship breakdowns,” explains Quintina Crozier, the Homeless Prevention Service Manager.

Based on Union Street near the Peace Gardens, the Prevention Service, which is open Monday-Friday from 10am-4pm, operates a drop in provision in the afternoon (1-4pm) where young people can go to receive housing advice. The service also offers a Mediation Worker who works with young people independently as well as with their families with the aim of resolving their issues.

“Roundabout strongly believes that, as long as it is safe, the best place for a young person to be is at home with their family,” continues Quintina.

“We offer various services here, all which aim to prevent the young person from becoming homeless in the first place.”

Our Peer Education Project also operates from the Prevention Service and focuses on delivering homeless education to students in secondary schools. The Peer Educators are all young people who have accessed our services, and they have received training to deliver these sessions in schools to raise awareness of youth homelessness, break down stereotypes and inform young people of organisations that can help.

“Early intervention is key, which is why our Prevention Service is so vital” says Ben Keegan, our CEO.

 “It has been extremely difficult for us to gain funds in recent years, so we’re delighted to have been successful with this bid. This is sustainable funding for the next five years, meaning we’ll be able to help thousands of vulnerable young people and make Sheffield one of the leading centres for Youth Homelessness Prevention”.

For more information about our Youth Homelessness Prevention Service, please click here.