An extra £9.6 million to help rough sleepers make a permanent move away from the streets was announced today by Housing Minister Caroline Flint.

The funding will support an additional 11 projects and 2 existing ones to improve and build new hostels and homelessness services across the country, helping homeless people back into independent living by giving them new skills and training. The new services will enable residents to learn practical skills such as catering or decorating, through to establishing new social enterprises.

It brings the total investment under the Government's Places of Change Programme to £80 million over the next three years which will deliver 80 schemes, transforming hostels and homelessness services. Caroline Flint today visited the newly refurbished St. Mungo's Endell Street Homeless hostel, which received £3.24 m under the previous round of the programme, to hear from residents how the centre has made a difference to their lives.

Caroline Flint said:

"It is fantastic to see what can be achieved with the right people, the right vision and the right support. Endell Street is a wonderful example of how a hostel has been transformed to help homeless people back into independent living through skills and training. We want to do more to help rough sleepers make a permanent move away from the streets and this investment will help to ensure the support is there."

The Hostels Capital Improvement Programme has already proved successful in tackling homelessness and providing value for money, with transformed hostels and homelessness services showing a 30 per cent increase in clients moving on successfully into training, education, employment, or independent living as a result of new services available.

Homelessness Minister Iain Wright added:

"These hostels are already doing brilliant work with some of the most vulnerable people in our communities and this extra funding will enable them to help rebuild the lives of many more.

"This scheme is about more than just making the move from the street to a settled home, it's about giving people the opportunity to train, to find a job, and to take control of their future. These projects do just that, giving people the chance to escape homelessness, not just for the night or a week, but permanently."