Chaning the Narrative An evaluation report of National Lottery Funded Work
Changing the narrative: Preventing young people from becoming homeless in Sheffield.
At a time when youth homelessness is rising across the country, we’re incredibly proud that Roundabout has been recognised as one of England’s highest-performing youth homelessness services.
An independent evaluation of our National Lottery-funded homelessness prevention work praised the impact of our services, highlighting how our expertise, prevention-first approach and strong partnerships are helping more young people avoid homelessness before they reach crisis point.
Over the past four years, National Lottery funding has enabled us to strengthen three vital homelessness prevention services: our Drop In Service, Talk It Out mediation, and our Peer Education Programme. Together, these services have supported thousands of young people at risk of homelessness with practical advice, family mediation, education and early intervention.
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The impact has been clear:
- > More than 1,600 young people have accessed our Drop In and Talk It Out services.
- > More than 8,000 young people have taken part in our Peer Education Programme, helping them understand the causes of youth homelessness and where to find support before a crisis develops.
- > Every one of the 762 young people included in the evaluation achieved an accommodation outcome through our Drop In Service, with none left facing the prospect of sleeping rough.
- > 94 per cent of Talk It Out mediation cases prevented homelessness, helping young people remain safely at home wherever possible.
The report also recognises the growing pressures facing youth homelessness services, including a significant increase in demand and the rising number of young refugees needing support. Despite these challenges, it concludes that Roundabout’s homelessness prevention work is making a real difference and provides an example that other charities, organisations and local authorities can learn from.
As South Yorkshire’s youth homelessness charity, we’re proud of what we’ve achieved alongside our partners, funders and supporters. As we approach our 50th anniversary, our work is far from over. By continuing to invest in homelessness prevention, strengthen partnerships and intervene early, we believe we can move closer to a future where every young person has a safe place to call home.
As we look to the future, we’re delighted to have secured a further £455,306 from The National Lottery Community Fund. This funding will enable us to continue delivering our successful homelessness prevention services in Sheffield while expanding our Peer Education, Homelessness Prevention and Crisis Intervention services into Rotherham over the next five years.