Support from Help the Homeless in Lancashire

With a focus on the Chorley area, Help the Homeless is an agency that assists the low income and people sleeping rough. Volunteers from the charity partner with groups such as the Borough Council and other Lancashire organisations on providing food parcels, advice, debt and rent relief as well as other assistance.

Household goods as well as food are provided by the charity. This can benefit families on a low income that are moving into a new home, and the agency will give them everything from pans, microwaves, bedding, pots and small appliances. Homeless families often benefit from this as it gives them the items they need to assist in the transition. This will help the individual free up their income for other bills they will encounter on their new home.

Help the Homeless will provide food or meals, both to the homeless and people in poverty. This is for people that can’t afford to buy essential items on their own. There may be sleeping bags, blankets, canned foods, toiletries, and other goods. In some cases the charity may not have supplies on site, so they will provide vouchers to local Lancashire foodbanks. Whether a Lancashire resident is homeless or in poverty, the referrals to food banks are valuable to addressing an emergency.

Most of the housing assistance is available in the form of free advice. There are many steps taking by the agency to address this needs of the community, and they are as follows.

First, temporary accommodations are arranged in Chorley, and this provides time for people to find long-term housing options. Then, volunteers will make referrals to local housing schemes, including for rent deposits, or the agency will assist the client in making arrangements with landlords of private homes.

Much of this support is available in partnership with statutory agencies, such as councils. They also partner with charities and landlords in Lancashire to prevent homelessness. All of these groups work together to find solutions. Any advice from Help the Homeless is both free as well as confidential.

Mediation can solve both family issues as well as disputes between existing tenants and landlords. Often times solutions can be found using payment plans or counselling, and this can be one way to prevent homelessness in Chorley. The services is provided by a team of mediators as well as mentors from the charity.

Early intervention can often stop a relationship breakdown. This is often one major cause to homelessness, and by staff offering mediation or guidance, that can be critical to solving a crisis. Mediation will often involve counselling as well, whether it is for substance misuse or some form of communication breakdowns.

Complex housing issues are solved by Help the Homeless, even if the cause of the emergency is a debt or budgeting problem. This is arranged as the agency will have a close relationship with the Chorley Borough Council for these types of concerns. This is required as the volunteers from Help only have so many resources available to them.

So Help the Homeless offers many services to clients, ranging from advice to emergency shelter. For more information, the agency has an address of 45 Clifford Street, Chorley, Lancashire, PR7 1SE, and the phone number is 01257 273320.