St Basils continues to do amazing work across Birmingham, Solihull and Coventry in supporting long people with their accommodation challenges and it currently operates 40 schemes assisting over 800 people. The Charity also provides a range of related services including an employability service to assist the young people find employment.
The impact of St Basils and similar organisations in the County was evidenced by recent statistics round the relatively small number of young people who are currently sleeping on the street of our cities, compared with many other major urban centres.
My Chaplain Becky and I visited the main Hub where young people have their first contact with St Basils and their needs assessed and a pathway determined. We also visited a new Live & Work facility in Birmingham City Centre which provides accommodation for young people who are in employment, but who are struggling with the high costs of some rental properties, and so it provides lower cost accommodation for up to 2 years to get people started on the track to independent living.