Designing Out Homelessness: Practical Steps for Business — Wales

• Excluded Groups
• Wales
• Healthy_Communities
• Employment and Skills

Designing Out Homelessness: Practical Steps for Business is a toolkit for employers on how to prevent, offer help and create pathways out of homelessness in Wales.

Homelessness, visible and invisible, is rising across the UK. It takes many forms, from families living in temporary accommodation to couples and individuals sleeping on friends’ sofas, in hostels or on the streets. Statistics show that only a quarter of people who are homeless or facing homelessness are in work.¹

This toolkit was developed in Wales with the collaboration of the Community Impact Leadership Team, led by Lynne Sheehy from Legal & General, with additional support from FOR Cardiff. Based in Wales, this team is a group of ten member businesses who are committed to creating a positive impact on key issues affecting Welsh business and communities.

This toolkit provides businesses with practical actions to:

• prevent homelessness within their business and in wider society
• provide practical support to people going through crisis or experiences of homelessness
• create pathways to employment to help people transition to independent living.

It also includes short impact stories from Welsh organisations who are tackling homelessness, including Admiraland FOR Cardiff.

The toolkit clearly explains the role that businesses can play, alongside the public and community sector, in designing out homelessness.  As well as providing practical steps to action, this toolkit also includes case study examples from leading businesses that are innovating and working in partnership to tackle homelessness within their communities.

Further reading

Designing Out Homelessness: Practical Steps for Business was developed in collaboration with the West Midlands Homelessness Taskforce – a group of businesses, local government, and the community sector convened by Andy Street, Mayor of the West Midlands – to tackle the issue.

Find out more about the work of the West Midlands Homelessness Taskforce.

Thank you to our partners Gowling WLG, St Basils and the West Midlands Combined Authority in the writing of this toolkit.

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