We’re incredibly proud to announce that Crisis and Newcastle City Council will be forming a new partnership that will seek to make Newcastle the first city to end homelessness within the next 10 years.

 Working together with other partners across the city, the partnership will build on the great work already happening in Newcastle to tackle and prevent homelessness to develop a deep understanding of how to end homelessness sustainably.

Responding to the announcement Jon Sparkes, Crisis Chief Executive, said: “We’re incredibly proud to be partnering with Newcastle City Council to end homelessness in the city within ten years. The city’s strong leadership in tackling and preventing homelessness and in its ambition to be a city free from homelessness presents a real opportunity to commit to such a momentous endeavour.

“The homelessness crisis is one of the most urgent issues of our time. People shouldn’t be needlessly suffering life on the streets, waking up for work on sofas or be living for long periods in hostels and B&Bs. But we know we can fix this.

“It will take hard work and commitment to achieve but we know the solutions are there. By working together with the council and other partners over the coming years, we can learn more about what works to sustainably end homelessness. So that if on the rare occasion people do lose their homes, we can ensure we have the right safety nets in place to catch them. Because in 21st century Britain no one should ever find themselves without the dignity and stability of a safe home.”

While Cllr Nick Forbes, leader of Newcastle City Council, said: “Nobody should find themselves without a home and it is our responsibility to do everything we can to end this issue.

“This partnership is an opportunity for us, working with Crisis, to end homelessness in all its forms. Whether it’s a person sleeping rough on the streets, or someone sofa surfing or moving around to one b&b to another, everyone deserves a place to call ‘home’.

“Years of cuts to our budgets and more people struggling to make ends meet and enduring more hardship as a result of universal credit has had a serious impact on people’s lives. Thanks to some amazing initiatives we’ve been able to undo much of that damage and prevent thousands of cases of homelessness every year, but this partnership will allow us to make an even bigger difference over the next 10 years.”

More details regarding the partnership will follow soon.