On 31st March we said a fond farewell to the London Borough of Hackney, which has now left the No First Night Out partnership.
As one of the three original authorities in this unique tri-borough project, the first of its kind in England, Hackney has made a significant contribution to the success of our service and we are sad to see them go.
Likewise, NFNO has been able to make a really positive contribution to the issue of homelessness and rough sleeping in Hackney over the past three years.
We prevented more than 130 people from rough sleeping for the first time on the streets of Hackney. We are incredibly proud of this, and could not have achieved such great results without the support and close co-working with our colleagues at Hackney.
As well as helping vulnerable people at risk of rough sleeping, the tri-borough partnership has also helped NFNO to collaborate and share knowledge, influence policy and decision-making, and develop shared information resources and good practice guidelines in a way that could not have been anticipated before the partnership between NFNO and Hackney existed.
“As we depart from NFNO, I would like to thank all our colleagues and providers whom we have worked with successfully over the years. The testing, trialling of new ideas and varied learning from NFNO has greatly assisted and shaped our delivery to single persons approaching the service.
Our focus has now shifted towards increasing an availability of housing options through actual stock and voids throughout the country which will align with our prevention ethos for all single applicants which is very much required. This will be through sourcing accommodation suited to single persons, building relationships and strengthening working agreements with suppliers, stakeholders and support providers in order to ensure a holistic sustainable process for the service user.
We continue to enhance our service delivery with a person-centred approach and an integration of services located around the Greenhouse.
I wish you all the very best for the future.”
Prakash Pandit, Housing Advice and Homelessness Team Manager, London Borough of Hackney
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We will of course stay in touch with our colleagues in the borough to see how our clients are getting on, and our three-year partnership with Hackney as well as their new service will be reviewed as part of our overall final project evaluation in summer 2019.
NFNO would like to say a big Thank You to everyone who has been involved from the London Borough of Hackney in making the partnership a success. In particular our former Steering Group members and attendees Jennifer Wynter, Prakash Pandit, Adrian Bedford and Mark Billings, as well as Steph Ratcliffe and Chris Kempsey and all their colleagues at the Greenhouse. We wish them all the best of luck with their new service and the on-going support they will be offering to vulnerable people at risk of rough sleeping in Hackney.