Charity launches appeal to help Sheffield youngsters sleeping on the streets

The past two years has seen an increase in the number of young people aged under 25 in the region who are sleeping rough.

The charity launched Rapid Rehousing made up of dedicated workers who go identify homeless young people who need intensive support and help them to access accommodation.

Now Roundabout is spearheading a new campaign - By Their Side - that will raise awareness of this service and also boost Roundabout’s long term income stream, making sure the charity can offer the support needed to turn around the lives of some of the most vulnerable young people in the area.

“This group of young people have extremely complex needs and often can’t access mainstream housing and homeless services as they are quite chaotic, often experiencing early child hood and continued trauma, have general ill health and undiagnosed health conditions, and can often be taken advantage of by older homeless people,” said Roundabout deputy CEO Tracey Jackson.

“They can be very wary of help from our services for various reasons – they may have even been excluded from other services in the past, but our intense and long term support can help them to turn their lives around, and you can help to make that difference”

A donation of £4.80 could pay for a bus ticket for the day to attend a vital appointment, such as a medical appointment or interview.

A £24 monthly donation could pay for a basic weekly food shop and £100 could help towards keeping a young person off the streets throughout the winter, with the the provision of safe and secure accommodation.

“Our incredible staff work across the city in all weathers, trying to engage with these young people, sometimes just sitting on the floor with them in the rain over weeks, working to establish trust until eventually, we can encourage and support them to come off the streets and into one of our properties,” said Tracey.

To find out more about the Roundabout Rapid By Their Side campaign visit roundabouthomeless.org