Shortlist announced for London Homelessness Awards
Organisers chose six projects from a total of 30 applications
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Your support makes all the difference.Six projects doing vital work to help London’s homeless have been shortlisted for the London Homelessness Awards, putting them in the running to win a first prize of £30,000.
This year’s awards, on the 21st anniversary of their inception, will be run in partnership with the Evening Standard’s Homeless Fund.
In the run up to the awards ceremony, which will be held on 14 October at the Union Chapel in Islington, the Evening Standard will be looking in-depth at the transformative impact of each project, before covering the announcement of the three deserving winners, who will share a prize fund of £60,000.
Ian Brady, Executive Chair of the London Housing Foundation which runs the awards, commented: “We are delighted to be working in partnership with the Evening Standard Homeless Fund for this year’s awards. The Homeless Fund has given a real focus to the sector over the last two years, and we welcome the Evening Standard’s commitment to support organisations working with people experiencing homelessness.”
“Their assistance in raising the profile of this year’s awards and the excellent work being done every day across London is fantastic.”
The shortlisted six are:
Camden Health Improvement - a specialist homeless GP outreach service in Camden, who claim to have raised the average life expectancy of their patients from 47 up to 54 years old – bucking a depressing trend in the national average, which has seen life expectancy for homeless people fall.
MyBnk: The Money House - a youth homelessness prevention scheme targeting care leavers and vulnerable young adults about to move into social housing, teaching participants how to best manage tenancies, which has seen a 64 per cent drop in evictions for those users at risk of becoming homeless.
Southwark Law Centre’s Homeless Patients Legal Advocacy Service - working in partnership with Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Trust’s Homeless Health Team, Southwark Law Centre provides advice and legal representation for homeless hospital patients. The law centre’s specialist solicitors help patients with particularly complex immigration, housing or welfare benefits cases.
Standing Together and Solace Women’s Aid - a Housing First project based in Westminster, specifically targeting women who have experienced long term homelessness, any form of VAWG (violence against women and girls), or multiple disadvantages.
SJOG Hospitaller Services: Olallo House - an innovative intermediate care service opened in 2008 in response to multiple tuberculosis (TB) treatment failures and preventable deaths among people experiencing homeless with complex needs and No Recourse to Public Funds.
St Mungo’s Westminster SOS - through their Westminster Street outreach Service, St Mungo’s work 365 days of the year, early in the morning and late at night, to provide support for individuals rough sleeping in Westminster.
The awards, recognised as one of the most prestigious in the homelessness sector, were originally set up in memory of Andy Ludlow, Director of Housing at Haringey Council. Having allocated £500,000 to organisations over two decades, the awards seek to remember Andy’s own pioneering approach to housing, by recognising innovation and excellence in contemporary projects across London working with people who are, or are at risk of becoming, homeless.
Organisers received over 30 applications for the awards, before a judging panel chose the impressive shortlist of six. The shortlisted projects will now be visited by a member of the panel, with the final winner and runners up being announced at the awards ceremony.
The judging panel includes Ian Brady, Simon Dow and Eleanor Stringer of the London Housing Foundation; David Eastwood of the GLA; Alison Mohammed of Shelter and Jon Sparkes of Crisis; and Neil Wightman of Westminster City Council.
The panel’s Chair Simon Dow said: “Yet again we saw examples of really high quality innovative work being carried out by a wide variety of organisations across London. It was as ever very tricky to agree a final six, but these projects show real imagination, sustainability and commitment to help reduce homelessness in London.”
The awards are also sponsored by the London Housing Directors, Mayor of London, Crisis and Shelter.
The Homeless Fund was set up as part of the Evening Standard’s Help Our Homeless campaign, which since starting in 2019 has raised over £1.4 million for partner charities in the London Homelessness Collective. Most notably, it has secured funding to open the first ever 24/7 women-only refuge in Central London, at the Marylebone Project.
More details about the London Homelessness Awards can be found at www.lhawards.org.uk. To give to the Evening Standard’s Homeless Fund, please visit: http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fund/EveningStandard.
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