How £1.2m will help buy cold weather shelters and support for rough sleepers in Leeds
A £1.2m government grant is set to boost efforts to help homeless people sleeping on the streets of Leeds.
Focusing on the city centre and South Leeds, the council is planning use the cash to help prevent rough sleeping and get people into safe accommodation.
It will help pay for cold weather shelters, extra staff and support for people with drug and alcohol problems.
A council report said the top-up funding would come from the government’s Rough Sleeping Prevention and Recovery Grant for 2025-2028.
It report said: “Leeds City Council is committed to ending rough sleeping and it is a key strategic priority for the city.”
Change Grow Live, a charity providing housing and substance misuse services, will use part of the grant to recruit four more outreach workers for a year.
The organisation will provide night shelters from December to March, along with daytime shelter for homeless people during cold weather.
A council report said: “This will include collaboration with churches, volunteers and other community partners to provide additional accommodation.”
A pilot scheme will be launched to help rough sleepers with substance misuse problems, provided by workers with their own experience of homelessness.
The report said: “The initiative will focus on areas with heightened public health and safety concerns, including Leeds city centre and south Leeds, where visible drug use and drug-related activity have escalated.”
The grant will also be used to help people from overseas who have had to move out of their asylum accommodation.
The report sets out £665,000 worth of grants for projects in the city, with the remaining funds still set to be allocated.
It said: “This funding will span the 2025–28 financial years and is intended to bolster existing efforts and enable new interventions that address the complex needs of individuals at risk of or experiencing rough sleeping.”