North Star is highlighting the great benefits of supported housing in the North East as part of Starts at Home day on 1 September.

The Starts at Home campaign celebrates supported housing and tells the stories of people in communities across the country who have gained independence or rebuilt their confidence through these vital services proved with a safe and secure home, including sheltered accommodation, refuges for women fleeing domestic violence, shelters and supported homes for those at risk of homelessness, and supported housing for vulnerable young people and adults with disabilities.

The funding system for supported housing is currently being reviewed by the Government, after which a new funding mechanism will be set up. The National Housing Federations and its members, including North Star, are campaigning to persuade the Government to ensure that every person who needs extra support has a home that meets their needs.

North Star provides a range of homes and services that help people live as independently as possible, and offer a vast amount of supported housing services across the North East and North Yorkshire. From homes for older people with support needs, to helping people recovering from drug and alcohol abuse, North Star provides a vast, valuable and crucial service to those who need it most.

Angela Lockwood, Chief Executive at North Star, said: “Nothing highlights the need for supported housing more than witnessing the very real impact it has on the lives of those lucky enough to live there!

“At an opening of one of our learning disability schemes a local MP, David Miliband, got the chance to meet one of our inspirational tenants and witness her absolute joy at having her own home. We built the scheme around a central hub, to enable all tenants to live as independently as possible. People with a learning disability have a right to choice and control over their lives, and our supported housing schemes are designed to give them that and so much more. We see so often that they’re not always given the choices and opportunities so many of us take for granted, but we know they thrive in independent living and that it’s a fraction of the cost and of much higher quality than the alternative of residential care.

“With no clear funding mechanism in place, no security or sustainability for supported housing in sight, there are so many vulnerable people at risk of losing their home; the place that has given them choice, control and independence. The trauma and the regressive impact that taking the funding for supported housing away poses, and the complete lack of choice and control they will have as a result, is becoming a very real and serious threat. My plea is to withdraw the Local Housing Allowance cap and find a way of funding supported housing that provides security, stability and most importantly that provides those that need it most with a positive future that values their independence.”

David Orr, Chief Executive at the National Housing Federation said: “Supported housing provides a safe and secure home that helps people to live independently and to achieve their aspirations. That’s why we launched the Starts at Homes campaign to celebrate the good work done by so many in the supported housing sector, and show the Government why it’s such a crucial part of the housing fabric.”