Action Together pledges to be homeless friendly

Liz Windsor-Welsh, Action Together Chief Executive, Victoria Holden, Action Together Partnerships Coordinator, and Gail Sutcliffe, Homeless Friendly

Local charity Action Together has worked in partnership with charity Homeless Friendly to pledge to help meet the needs of homeless people in Oldham, Rochdale and Tameside.

As part of the pledge, Homeless Friendly delivered awareness training to Action Together staff to ensure the teams are able to fully meet the needs of homeless people. Action Together will examine its policies and procedures to ensure they are homeless-friendly, and work with partners to encourage them to care for the homeless and speak to homeless people with understanding and compassion.

Liz Windsor-Welsh, Action Together Chief Executive, commented: “We are proud to have pledged to be homeless-friendly. We will continue to share good practice and work with our partners to offer practical support to the homeless and tackle the roots of the problem. Our team will strive to remove barriers and help those without a permanent address.”

Zahid Chauhan, founder of the Homeless Friendly programme, said: “The average life expectancy of someone living on the region's streets is just 47-years-of-age, and conditions such as heart disease, malnutrition, the consequences of addiction and even rotting teeth are rife. But through this partnership vulnerable people of Greater Manchester will be signposted to organisations that can help them.

“Homeless people were wrongly being refused access to healthcare because they didn't have a permanent address. Action Together will positively support and signpost people to local resources.”

Surgeries have been joined by hospitals, hospices and other organisations in the programme – which has also attracted the interest of businesses, charities and councils.

For a full list of partners, visit: www.homelessfriendly.co.uk/our-supporters/

Action Together helps groups in Oldham, Rochdale and Tameside. Its teams have a wealth of experience that could help strengthen your community group and grow your ideas.

If you need training, support or advice contact the team on:

• Tel: 0161 339 2345
• Email: info@actiontogether.org.uk
• Visit: www.actiontogether.org.uk