We are delighted to share that we have received an incredible grant of £212,000 from The National Lottery Community Fund alongside local funders in support of our homelessness prevention services.

This funding will amplify the fantastic support we have received from multiple existing funders - who include:

• Oxfordshire Community Foundation
• Pret Foundation
• St Michael’s and All Saints’ Charity
• Oxford City Council
• Local housing associations

Through this grant and the boost it provides for our existing funding, we will be able to continue our life-changing homelessness prevention work across Oxfordshire for an additional three years, reaching more people than ever before - at the earliest signs of homelessness risk.

For many people, accommodation systems and processes such as Universal Credit are difficult to understand, and may be too much of a challenge to tackle alone. At Aspire, we provide individual, person-centred guidance to ensure the people we support are equipped with the confidence, personal resilience and local contacts they need to navigate issues such as sustaining tenancies, debt and benefits, so they can move into and maintain accommodation, with access to education, training and employment opportunities through Aspire if required.

Our homelessness prevention service launched in 2018 as part of the county-wide ‘Trailblazer’ pilot project, and supported an incredible 400 people - 45% of whom would have been homeless or evicted without the specialist intervention of our homelessness prevention team. Paired with the 46% increase in demand for Aspire’s services in 2018-19, this figure supports the reality that stepping up to prioritise prevention with these issues is now more important than ever. 

Paul Roberts, Chief Executive Officer at Aspire, says:

“We know that Oxfordshire is facing a significant homeless crisis and the preventative approach is a vital way forward. We’re extremely grateful to The National Lottery Community Fund, and of course, all of the local funders who have enabled this critical work to continue.

By supporting people at the earliest possible stage, we can give them the skills and resilience they urgently need to prevent their own homelessness. At the heart of this project is an absolute commitment to working in partnership with a wide range of other agencies to reach those most in need, and we look forward to continuing this project to protect hundreds more vulnerable people from becoming homeless.”