What's New?

• Local Area Agreements were published on 30th June. To find out what is included in yours go to the new Local Priorities Website For more information about Local Area Agreements click here

• Read Homeless Link's response to the Communities and Local Government's rough sleeping discussion paper

• Caroline Flint announces a further £9.6 million to change homeless hostels into Places of Change

• On 20 March 2008 Caroline Flint announced how £70 million will be allocated to 69 homeless projects across England. The Communities and Local Government Places of Change Programme consists of capital investments to hostels alongside a culture change linked to greater opportunities into education, training and employment for service users

• Communities and Local Government have released the official Homelessness Statistics for quarter 4 of 2007

• MEPs pledge to end rough sleeping in Europe

• Homeless Link have recently published an impact report of its first six years

• Read Shelter's policy briefing on mortgage arrears and repossessions

• Homeless Link and the Resource Information Service (RIS) launch groundbreaking report into adult disadvantage and homelessness

• Communities and Local Government announce record funding to tackle homelessness . Have a look at how this will be divided over three years for each Local Authority in England

• Report claims rough sleeping counts underestimate need

• Emergency for All - CLG state Severe Weather Emergency Provision (SWEP) should be open to Eastern Europeans

• Nursing Knowledge - Lack of training for nurses working with homeless people revealed by Homeless Health Initiative Report

• Skills to Work - DWP proposal to reform 16 hour benefit rule on studying

Upcoming Events and Training

• Find out about other forthcoming Homeless Link events and conferences

• Our short training courses provide essential skills for staff at all levels.

• If you find that Homeless Link's scheduled courses are too far to travel to, or beyond your budget why not consider our Consortium Training or In House Training ?

• Homeless Link has also launched a new service to enable member organisations to have a complete training needs analysis for staff. Fees vary according to organisation size and activities and a report and action plan, tailored to your organisation's training resources can be completed in as little as eight weeks. Contact kaite.welsh@homelesslink.org.uk for more details.

Recent Events

• In March this year we held a seminar on Meaningful Service User Involvement

• We recently held a Social Enterprise Event in the West Midlands. The event represented a key opportunity to learn about how a social enterprise might benefit your service and service users. We have also put together some useful information about developing a social enterprise in the homelessness sector.

Regional Resources

Our resources pages contains useful information for organisations working in the West Midlands region, including toolkits. There is also a list of useful helplines and websites.

Are you looking for sources of funding ? We've put together a list of possible opportunities that might be available to you.

The West Midlands Voluntary & Community Sector Housing Network

The Housing Network was established in 2001. It represents a network of voluntary and community groups who have an interest in housing. The network meets about once every two months and is open to any voluntary or community organisation in the West Midlands concerned with housing issues. The Housing Network has over 75 members and has achieved a number of successes in terms of influencing the regional housing agenda. If you would like to find out more or join the network click here

West Midlands Homelessness Strategy Implementation Group

The West Midlands Homelessness Strategy Implementation Group was formed in 2005 following a recommendation in the Regional Homelessness Strategy. The group is aimed at bringing together representatives from the statutory, voluntary and business sectors in the region with a stake in homelessness issues.