Now, more than ever it is imperative that we work together to get the job done, and keep our communities safe. The teams within Housing at Wrexham Council have really worked together during the pandemic to ensure that our tenants and clients seeking housing in Wrexham, have been given the support that they need and to keep our critical services running.
In April 2020 Welsh Government issued a directive to all Welsh local authorities to ensure all homeless people and rough sleepers were provided with accommodation.
The Glyndwr University Project was set up and provided temporary accommodation for 58 clients in the Wrexham area and was a huge success. This facility allowed for us to provide a safe place for those in our communities that needed it during the pandemic.
Staff from across the council volunteered to support the project, manning the facility day to day. We worked with partner organisations too, to ensure the success of the project including; The Wallich who provided laundry services and safe needle exchange boxes, Cais provided on site outreach support officers and hot food in the evening, the Salvation Army provided hot food for brunch, Harm Reduction Team provided drug advice and medical support and Hillcrest surgery provided a weekly drop in every Friday with a Nurse practitioner. Plus, we received donations from Tesco and the local church on a regular basis which was greatly appreciated. Without the support of others in the community, we could not have made it the success that it was. This certainly helped deliver on the Welsh Government instruction to provide accommodation to all homeless people and rough sleepers during the pandemic.
We received so many thank you cards and words of appreciation, it’s great to see that the project has helped people, not just with obtaining accommodation during this difficult time, but also with other aspects of life. A lady had presented to us after fleeing domestic violence and homelessness and was placed at Glyndwr. After working with officers and partner organisations involved in the project, this lady has secured a tenancy in the private sector, has utilised the support that was offered to her and now has a full time job after not working for many years!
Cllr David Griffiths – Housing Lead Member said “I am very proud of all of the teams involved in making this happen. Innovative thinking and hard work from our housing teams and partner organisations has meant that we were able to provide suitable accommodation to homeless people in our communities, great work by all!”
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