New funding has become available to help organisations support people who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless.
Durham County Council is making £100,000 available to community and voluntary sector providers which can then use the funding for a range of activities that support the prevention of homelessness.
Organisations across County Durham can make multiple bids, with funding available for individual projects ranging from £2,000 to £10,000. The total awarded to any one organisation across all successful bids is £10,000.
Cllr Dawn Bellingham, Durham County Council Cabinet member for communities and civic resilience, said: “We are pleased to offer this fresh, additional funding to support organisations in continuing to do their part to prevent homelessness across County Durham. Clearly, preventing situations such as forced evictions due to escalating debt, would supplement all other support mechanisms already in place. We are working hard to ensure support is in place as early as possible for those facing that reality.
“We would encourage as many organisations as possible working in this area to bid for this support, and to demonstrate how their activity will assist us in homelessness prevention.”
The terms of the grant require that funding is spent to support individuals and households which are homeless or at risk of experiencing homeless. Bids do not require an exclusive focus on supporting homeless individuals or households, with more holistic approaches to tackle the issue also welcome, as long as there is a link to homeless prevention.
The local authority’s Local Networks will be accepting applications from Thursday 1 October to Friday 30 October.
To request an application form, email and find more information on funding for community groups at www.durham.gov.uk/communityfunding.
