06/10/21

Cardiff Council's Housing First team has scooped a national award for its outstanding contribution to the housing sector in Wales.

The team, which provides accommodation and intensive support services to help individuals who have been sleeping rough to rebuild their lives away from the streets, has been named Housing Team of the Year in the Chartered Institute of Housing's Welsh Housing Awards.

In a virtual ceremony, the award was presented to team member Aimee Fontenot, who managed the Housing First service over the past year.

Cabinet Member for Housing and Communities, Cllr Lynda Thorne, said: "It's fantastic to see our Housing First team recognised on this national platform. It is not an exaggeration to say that the whole team pour their heart and soul into supporting the clients in Housing First provision so this award is so well deserved.

"Housing First plays an important role in the work we do in the city to support vulnerable people on their path away from homelessness and we have increased the service  over recent years following its considerable successes. I'm so pleased then that the team have won this award, for the contribution they make to help address homelessness in Cardiff."

Housing First is a housing and support approach which, as the name suggests, gives people who have experienced homelessness, and have complex needs, a stable home from which to rebuild their lives. The service provides intensive, person-centred, holistic support that is open-ended.

The Council is currently supporting 30 people in its Housing First provision with 12 individuals accessing its Rough Sleepers Project and 18 in the Prison Leavers Project.

The awards were open to all organisations working in housing in any tenure in Wales. Judges looked for evidence of a particular project or difficult task that had been tackled well together or how nominees improved the performance of their organisation or improved outcomes for tenants and communities.