A successful bid supported by Kelly Tolhurst MP has been has been awarded to help tackle the homelessness problems in the Medway towns.

A £30m Rough Sleeping Initiative fund has been allocated to 83 local authorities with the highest need, and includes over £400,000 going direct to Medway Council.

This funding will provide for over 500 new staff focused on rough sleeping. This will include more outreach workers to engage with people on the streets, specialist mental health and substance misuse workers and dedicated co-ordinators to drive efforts to reduce rough sleeping in their areas.  It will also provide over 1700 new bed spaces including both emergency and settled accommodation.

Rochester and Strood MP has been active in highlighting to the government the growing number homeless on Medway’s streets. Kelly’s support for the bid focussed on aspects of safety, helping people get back on their feet and restoring the Medway towns’ high streets.

Commenting on the awarding of the fund, Kelly said,

“It is great news for Medway that this crucial funding has been secured, correctly acknowledging the dangers of sleeping rough and helping to prevent people ending up in this situation in the first place.

“A lot of work has gone into securing this money and I am delighted ministers have listened to representations from me and Medway Council and I look forward to seeing the fund move into action.

“I do believe initiatives like this can really help make a difference to those who have fallen on unfortunate times and help reassure our societies of the support available.”

The Government will soon release its rough sleeping strategy which aims to achieve the prime minister’s goal of halving rough sleeping in this parliament and ending it within 10 years.