Over £1.5 million awarded to six charities across the UK to help empower more people experiencing homelessness

In 2021, we announced that, as part of a new funding round, we would be making over £1.5 million over three years available to organisations which support our vision of everyone having a safe place to call home and the support they need.

Following 81 applications from organisations across the UK, we are proud to announce that the six recipients of the Fund will include Caring in Bristol, TGP Cymru, Legal Services Agency, akt, Pathway and Extern.

These organisations will enter a multi-year working partnership with St Martin’s Charity over three years and receive a share of the Fund, which will enable them to deliver their existing services more effectively, and/or develop new and innovative ways of providing meaningful support for people at risk of or experiencing homelessness.

St Martin’s Charity is able to award this Fund, due to the annual BBC Radio 4 Christmas Appeal - which each year raises millions of pounds to transform the lives of people facing homelessness across the UK.

About the Frontline Fund recipients

Caring in Bristol deliver projects around homelessness that engage a community of volunteers, bringing people together to make change. Like St Martin’s Charity, Caring in Bristol are striving to create a society where everyone has a home and works hard to prevent people becoming homeless in the first place.

Ben Richardson, Director of Caring in Bristol said: “Caring in Bristol are delighted to become a partner of St Martin-in-the-Fields Charity and join an amazing network of organisations working to empower people experiencing homelessness to secure and keep a safe place to live.

“Over the next three years, this partnership will enable Caring in Bristol to carry out our ambitious plans for Project Z, a floating support service for young people with complex needs and at risk of homelessness in Bristol. We can support more young people, reach areas where there is greatest risk and further evidence our relationship-based approach to support. 

“We want to create a city empowered to solve homelessness, and with this support, we are a step closer to doing so - huge thank you to St Martin’s Charity!”

TGP Cymru is a leading independent Welsh children’s charity working with some of the most vulnerable and marginalised children, young people, and families in Wales. Helping individuals access appropriate services in health, education, and social care – TGP Cymru works tirelessly to ensure everyone has a voice to have a say in their future.

Sophie Ann Morris, Manager at TGP Cymru said: “TGP Cymru’s Team Around the Tenancy are extremely grateful to be receiving this funding to continue our important work with young people across North Wales who are being pushed into homelessness or who don’t have a place to call home.

“We are so excited to be working in partnership with St Martin-in-the-Fields Charity and it will give us the opportunity to embed our work over the next three years.”

Legal Services Agency (LSA) is a Scottish law centre and charity committed to defending legal rights and using the law to effect social change. Believing that everyone is entitled to specialist legal advice when they need it, LSA works to prevent homelessness alongside other valuable services. 

Aaliya Seyal, Chief Executive Officer at LSA commented: “LSA has a rich history of protecting rights of communities most isolated from support. We are very grateful for the funding and delighted to be partnering with St Martin-in-the-Fields Charity in order to provide a service focusing on early intervention to prevent homelessness for people who have had contact with the criminal justice system.

“Our frontline experience speaks volumes to the issue at hand, with an increased number of people entering the prison system having no fixed abode. We are looking forward to playing our part to break recurring cycles of disadvantage.”

Akt supports LGBTQ+ young people aged 16-25 in the UK who are facing or experiencing homelessness or are living in a hostile environment. Not only do they support individuals into safe homes, but the charity also ensures young people have access to employment, education or training in a welcoming and open environment that celebrates LGBTQ+ identities.

Hayley Speed, Assistant Director of Services at akt said: “We are very grateful to St Martin-in-the-Fields Charity for investing in akt, the national Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans youth homelessness charity, so that we can develop a much needed and innovative new service across Greater Manchester to help some of the most vulnerable in our community.

“49% of the young people who contact akt for support who are experiencing or are at risk of homelessness identify as trans. We envisage our Trans Pathway service will be a vital initiative enabling us to work with partners across Greater Manchester to provide young trans people with the support needed to gain and sustain accommodation, allowing them to feel safe and get the help and encouragement they deserve to end their homelessness and build independent lives with a supportive community around them.”

Pathway is the UK’s leading homeless healthcare charity, working with partners to create improved models of care for homeless people. Their purpose is to improve the health and wellbeing of people experiencing homelessness by developing and sharing best models of care, increasing specialist skills of workers in healthcare, influencing policy and reducing stigma in healthcare against people experiencing multiple exclusion.

Alex Bax, CEO at Pathway commented: “Being homeless or the threat of homelessness is extremely bad for your health. Disease rates for people who experience homelessness can be ten times higher than those found in the housed population. Getting ill can also be a trigger for homelessness, through losing your job, or struggling to manage life with a mental health or addiction problem.

Homelessness is a healthcare problem but getting access to it can prove challenging for our most vulnerable patients. We are delighted to partner with St Martin-in-the-Fields Charity to help provide the legal advice needed in securing more stable outcomes for our patients and help improve even more lives across the UK.”

Extern is a leading social justice charity across the island of Ireland who speaks up for and supports more than 21,000 children, young people, individuals, and families each year to overcome challenges, empower positive change and support family unity.

Danny McQuillan, CEO of Extern added: “We are delighted to have secured such generous funding from this new partnership with St Martin-in-the-Fields Charity. This will enable us to offer counselling to some of our most vulnerable service users who are often unable to access many mainstream services due to having been engaged within the criminal justice system.

“These funds will enable service users to access life-changing support over the next year, including those we work with through our Floating Support Services, as they make the transition from the criminal justice system to the community, as well as those we support through our hostels across Northern Ireland.

“As one of the leading providers of services to people who have been engaged within the criminal justice system, we understand the challenges which are faced by so many in accessing services many of us take for granted. Having the support of partners such as St Martin’s Charity through vital funding such as this not only transforms lives for the better, but enables us to create safer, stronger communities as a result. We look forward to being able to provide even brighter opportunities for those we support thanks to this generous funding.”

Tim Bissett, Director of St-Martin-in-the-Fields Charity, said: “We are delighted to be able to use the funds raised by the BBC Radio 4 Christmas Appeal to provide people experiencing homelessness with a safe place to call home and the support they need.

“We are excited to be partnering with all of these outstanding organisations and are looking forward to seeing what our relationship can achieve over the coming years!”