Blackburn with Darwen Council gets £640.000 to help homeless

The cash comes from the government's £654 million Homelessness Prevention Grant fund.

The money will be paid over two years from April 2023.

It comes on top of £1.6m awarded to the borough by the government last month.

In December Blackburn with Darwen Council was given a grant of £802,400 from the The Rough Sleeping Initiative (RSI) and £881,770 under the Rough Sleeper Accommodation Programme (RSAP).

The Whitehall grants run to March 2025, and March 2024 respectively.

The awards follow the council bringing back ten special pods to protect the borough's homeless in the grounds of Shadsworth Leisure Centre for the third year running under its Severe Winter Emergency Provision (SWEP) programme.

The borough currently has just one occasional rough sleeper on its streets.

Cllr Damian Talbot, the council's public health boss, said: "We take the issue of homelessness very seriously in Blackburn with Darwen and have successfully been reducing the number of people on our streets.

"This funding will mean that we can continue to make sure we can support those vulnerable residents to make sure we can prevent the risk of homelessness.

"Blackburn with Darwen have been allocated £640,000 over two years from April 2023 in Homelessness Prevention Grant.

"The funding will be used to help prevent people becoming homeless, bolstering the range of support already available in the borough for both families and individuals."

Mark Warren, Blackburn with Darwen Council’s strategic director of adults and health, said: "We welcome the funding announcement and the money we will receive through the Homelessness Prevention Grant will be put to very good use to fund a range of programmes.

"As we know homelessness can affect anyone and the councils aim is to help as many vulnerable local residents as possible, especially in these very challenging times.

"Councils can use the money flexibly based on their knowledge of the local area and the local housing market."