Peer Educators at Homeless Watch 2011

Sadie, Chris and Fraser talked movingly about what Peer Impact has done for them at the launch of this years survey...

Wednesday 14th December 2011

The BYH team, including seven of our peer educators, attended Homeless Watch at Kelham Hall in Newark.

Homeless Watch is a snapshot survey of homelessness in Nottinghamshire, agencies across the City and County were asked to record details of everyone who presented as homeless during a two week period in September/October this year.

Peer Educators Sadie, Chris and Fraser talked really movingly about what Peer Impact has meant to them - they managed to communicate just how important this project is in the lives of the young people who take part, and how powerful it is in conveying our preventative work in classrooms. Laura, Colm, Ashley and Jenni (our newest recruits) were presented with their certificates for passing their qualification in Peer Lead Education by Gary Smithurst, Housing Options Manager at Broxtowe Borough Council - well done all of you!

The survey confirmed that homelessness remains a significant issue in the area, with more presentations recorded that in 2010,

"In light of the cuts and a significantly more challenging landscape in relation to homelessness support in Nottinghamshire, the prevalence of homelessness, though having decreased since 2005, is still a major problem for a section of the population in Nottinghamshire. Overall 561 presentations were made in the fieldwork period which was slightly up from 2010 when the survey captured 543."

*It was raised at the presentation of the report that recent cuts in funding have lead to fewer services, so fewer reporting agencies taking part in the survey, and that this could potentially limit the extent to which the survey reflects the true scale of homelessness in the area.

The survey found that rough sleeping has increased this year, largely in the City, and that first-time rough sleeping is on the rise - 40% reported that it was the first time they had reported as homeless. This was particularly notable amongst younger people and A10 nationals.

Ex-offenders were identified as being at increased risk of becoming homeless and mental health as a support need for both men and women had increased along with support needs in realtion to learning difficulties and physical disability.

A major concern was that more children were recorded as being homeless and specifically there were more younger children, particularly between the ages of 0-4.

The profile of homeless people is still predominantly single white males between 25 and 40 years old, though there was a decrease in men presenting as homeless. More women presented as homeless this year, including more younger women.

The main reason reported for being homeless was overwhelmingly that parents were no longer willing to accommodate (24% of people), meaning that youth homelessness is still a significant issue. Our work with young homeless people in the area has never been more relevant; the current economic climate and rising unemployment along with other pressures on families mean many young people are increasingly vulnerable - our schools work equips these young people with the information they need to avoid the experience of rough sleeping.

Also:

Peer Impact: an award winning project

Peer Impact training dates 2012