Youth Employment UK joins collective of 80 Charities to Tackle Escalating Youth Homelessness Crisis.
In the past year alone, a shocking 129,000 16–25-year-olds* across the UK went to their local council for help because they were facing or already experiencing homelessness. This is approximately 353 new young people every day, one every four minutes. An enormous group, left exposed to the harmful effects of homelessness.
This unacceptable reality compels us to demand better and strive for lasting solutions, which is why 80 of the UK’s biggest and best youth and youth homelessness charities have come together to end this. The collective, which includes big charities such as Centrepoint and YMCA,to smaller, regional services and specialist providers such as akt, have united to call on government to commit to a cross-departmental strategy to end youth homelessness.
With an enormous amount of experience and evidence behind them,the charities are spreading a message of practical hope. While the true scale of youth homelessness is unknown, the solutions aren’t. Between them, these organisations prevent and sustainably solve homelessness and danger for tens of thousands of under-25s every year, but they are calling for systems change to stem the escalating crisis.
Using what they know works, they have created a strategy that prioritizes the following areas:
- Prevention – supporting young people to avoid homelessness crises in the first place.
- Housing – establishing better, safer options to identify and support those facing homelessness.
- Finances – ensuring fairer pay and resources are available to empower young people to build successful, independent lives.
Together, the collective is calling for the major political parties to commit to the strategy in their General Election manifestos and for the government to adopt the proposed strategy.
Support us from June 12th in our campaign with the hashtag #Planforthe129k, as we unite our voices and demand an end to youth homelessness.
