SINGLE people at risk of becoming homeless including former prisoners in Worcestershire will now get extra support thanks to a grant of nearly quarter of a million pounds.

Funding of more than £242,968 has been awarded to Worcestershire to boost work supporting single people who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless. The first payment of £91,113 is for 2014-15 with the second payment of £151,855 expected in 2015-16.

The money will be used by Worcester City Council in partnership with Bromsgrove, Malvern Hills, Wychavon, Wyre Forest and Redditch district councils from the new £8 million Help for Single Homeless Fund.

The money was welcomed by Jonathan Sutton, chief executive of St Paul's Hostel in Worcester, who said: "It's brilliant news. It's about time we had some good news. This money will be put to good use. It is going to pay for frontline staff on the streets to tackle homelessness. Laura Marshall who put the bid together has done a marvellous job."

Single people at risk of becoming homeless are often particularly vulnerable, and some of this funding will specifically help individuals who are on the verge of being released from prison or being discharged from hospital and are at risk of becoming homeless.

Extra officers will be taken on to work with single homeless people in partnership with other local organisations that can support them, including St Paul’s Hostel in Worcester, local Clinical Commissioning Groups, Worcester Housing And Benefit Advice Centre (WHABAC) and several others.

Worcester City Council led the successful bid for the Government cash with the other local councils, Bromsgrove, Malvern Hills, Wychavon, Wyre Forest and Redditch, with support from Worcestershire County Council.

Councillor David Wilkinson, Worcester City Cabinet member for Safer and Stronger Communities, said: “This is great news for the vital work across Worcestershire in helping to prevent homelessness. This extra funding will be particularly useful in the important task of helping vulnerable people who are in danger of becoming rough sleepers.”

This additional funding will also support the introduction of a No Second Night Out policy in Worcestershire, ensuring that no one has to sleep rough in the county for more than one night. The 47 people were found to be sleeping rough in Worcestershire in a count carried out in 2013 (21 of which were in Worcester).

Robin Walker, MP for Worcester, has welcomed the funding announcement from the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG).

Mr Walker said: “It was recently inspiring to meet someone in the street during the Worcester Victorian Christmas Fayre who I had last met when he was staying at St Paul's Hostel during a visit two years ago and to hear that he had a new home of his own and a job to support himself. Our homelessness charities do vital work in turning people’s lives around and I hope this new funding will help them, in conjunction with our local councils, to reach more people.

“My select committee has been doing important work this year on literacy and numeracy which are both amongst the issues that contribute to homelessness and isolation of vulnerable people. I hope that just as the idea of social impact bonds has been picked up by the Government in the broader agenda of turning lives around, their remit can be expanded to support more projects that will support literacy and numeracy in the future.”