Justin Meets With Derventio To Discuss Supported Housing & Homelessness

In a visit discussing everything from the rollout of Universal Credit across Swindon, to employment opportunities, Justin Tomlinson MP has met with residents at a shared house for people who have experienced homelessness.

Derventio Housing Trust supports people who have either recently experienced homelessness, or have become homeless over a prolonged period. Their aim is to help provide a safe and secure living environment that is homely, allowing residents to live in a more independent way, while they find work and make arrangements to lead happier, more stable lives. This includes supporting people who encounter quite challenging problems prior to reaching out for Derventio’s support, including financial distress and alcohol/substance abuse.

Homelessness across the UK has fallen over the last year with several new initiatives being brought forward by the Government, most notably the Homelessness Reduction Act which enables local councils to more quickly take action against people identified as being homeless, as well as providing an additional £165m to provide additional support in homeless services.

Despite progress on the subject, homeless people are still likely to be among the most disadvantaged, marginalised and excluded people in society.  Derventio are therefore increasingly focused on the causes of homelessness and preventing it from occurring in the first place. They also work very closely alongside property owners, local authorities and a range of other agencies.

Justin Tomlinson MP said: "I think this visit was really insightful. Not only to address some of the issues residents in this home have had receiving benefits such as Universal Credit & Personal Independence Payments, but also the things that can be done to improve employability by engaging with work programmes, and making the most of re-training schemes that are made available. I want to highlight to important work that Derventio have been doing since expanding into Swindon, and I will continue to work alongside them more in the future to provide whatever support I can to their work."