South Yorkshire charity chief praises staff for year of dedication during pandemic

Roundabout youth homelessness charity has been supporting young people who are homeless or in danger of becoming homeless since 1977 when it opened its emergency hostel in Sheffield.

Today the charity provides support to more than 300 young people - a level of service that was maintained throughout lockdown.

In the organisation’s new impact report, chief executive Ben Keegan has paid tribute to the Roundabout team for their dedication through a year of lockdown uncertainty.

He said: “In a year that has been dominated by the Covid-19 pandemic, I have never been so proud of the staff team at Roundabout.

“Their commitment and passion meant that we could keep all our services open and ensured that the young people we support always had a bed to sleep in.”

As well as providing safe and secure accommodation and a range of prevention services, Roundabout also delivers comprehensive programmes of training, involvement and empowerment with the aim of supporting young people to develop long-term independent living skills in order to break the cycles of homelessness.

Despite the problems of the pandemic over the past 12 months, Roundabout opened a new group living facility in Sheffield, fully refurbished and equipped for six young people.

With Roundabout support, seven young people were also able to commence university degree courses.

Chairman of trustees, John Caldwell, said: “Thanks to our amazing supporters and our first significant legacy donation, we covered all costs and significantly expanded our services to support even more young people across South Yorkshire. ”