Stay Telford is geared up to support the homeless after council vehicle handover
Homeless charity Stay is geared up to support vulnerable members of the community after receiving a vehicle from Telford & Wrekin Council’s passenger transport team
The council has handed over a fleet vehicle which was previously used on school runs but has now been replaced witha newer hire vehicle.
Stay will be able to use the set of wheels for its outreach work, which Telford & Wrekin Council helps to fund, supporting people who are rough sleeping across the borough and increasing the overall mobility of the service.
The 'end of use' bus is not fit for purpose on school runs and has become costly to maintain but is ideal for Stay to use.
Stay provides housing and support services to homeless and vulnerable people across Telford and Wrekin.
The charity has running for over 30 years and helps over 1,000 people each year – responding to accommodation and housing related support needs.
Telford & Wrekin Council works closely with Stay and other partners to support people who are rough sleeping across the borough and helps them find temporary and permanent accommodation.
Since March 2020, the multi-agency Rough Sleeper Task Force which includes partners Maninplace, Kip@Maninplace, Stay Telford, MPFT, STARS, ABT, Orsa and TACT, meets daily to co-ordinate services and ensure that anyone sleeping rough is quickly identified.
The task force has housed over 520 people who were previously rough sleeping and worked with a further 474 to prevent them rough sleeping.
Rough sleepers have been helped through a series of innovative projects which have been rolled out across the borough including the Next Steps and Rough Sleeper Accommodation programmes.
Councillor Richard Overton (Lab), Telford & Wrekin Council’s Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Housing, Enforcement and Transport said: “We are really pleased todonate this vehicle to Stay which will benefit the vital work they do to help the homeless and vulnerable people in communities across Telford and Wrekin.
“This vehicle has been used on school runs in the borough and, while it is no longer fit for purpose for that function, there is still considerable life and mileage in it for use by the Stay team.”
Cllr Paul Watling (Lab), Telford & Wrekin Council’s Cabinet Member for Safer and Stronger Communities, said: “It’s great to see Stay making use of this vehicle and we are delighted to support one of our partner organisations as we continue to work together to support the homeless and rough sleepers.”
Terry Gee, Stay Chief Executive, said: “Stay Outreach are looking forward to using this vehicle to provide support to rough sleepers across the Telford and Wrekin area.
“We hope to adapt the vehicle and provide somewhere warm and dry with hot water facilities that will support us when providing much-needed outreach support day and night to those who find themselves sleeping rough in Telford and Wrekin.”
You can find out more about Stay Telford here and report someone who is homeless or rough sleeping via Telford & Wrekin Council's support service here.
Photo: Cllr Richard Overton, left, hands over the bus to Terry Gee, Stay Chief Executive.
