Our blog is a safe space where we discuss the things that really matter to us: young people, housing, government policy, our campaigns and our research.
It's where we ask the difficult questions, demystify the jargon, discuss the topics that affect young people most and give you a glimpse of our day-to-day as a youth homelessness charity.
Centrepoint has been campaigning to Make Work Pay and end the benefit trap for young people in supported housing. For the last year we have been calling on the Chancellor to fix a cruel quirk in the system that can leave young people worse off when entering work. It’s an injustice affecting thousands of young people, and one we’ve been determined to see fixed.
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The cost of living crisis has particularly affected homeless young people. Improving access to financial education and delivering it in the right way for them can make a huge impact on their lives.
We’re launching a new, proactive homelessness prevention programme to help break the cycle of homelessness for the next generation of young people.
Moving into your own place can be a scary prospect, particularly if you have had experience with homelessness. But what if there is no place to move into, and you are stuck for months or years in a homelessness hostel, when you just want to move on? This is the increasing reality for many young homeless people, resulting from a lack of social and private housing supply, soaring rents and benefit cuts.
Jeff Moore
We sent some of our snowmen to protest outside the Houses of Parliament to highlight the shocking number of young people at risk of homelessness this winter.
You might be noticing a few changes to the way we look and wondering - what’s happening?
Earlier this month our patron, The Prince of Wales, officially opened our new housing development in Peckham, South London, providing 33 new flats for young people between 18-25.
Centrepoint has updated and published our Universal Credit guides for young people and those supporting them. They include information on the up-to-date benefit rates, rules, and regulations within Universal Credit. Our Policy and Research Assistant, Franki Taylor, talks you through it.
Eurydice Belezika, Peer Research Coordinator and former Centrepoint resident in London, talks about her experience of conducting research and campaigning to support disadvantaged young people.
As our former engagement team begin to reintroduce events and outings that aim to inspire and empower as the HOMES Activities Team, we caught up with them after a residential outing to Staffordshire, which brought together homeless young people from services all over the country for some daring outdoor activities. Here, the team tell us what these trips mean to young people, and just how it helps them prepare for independence.
Centrepoint’s goal is to help vulnerable young people become independent enough to live a good life that they can thrive in. And we are open to all homeless young people, regardless of their geographical circumstances. Whether they’ve been kicked out of their family home in London or have travelled to the UK as an unaccompanied minor, we’re here to help.
Our legal team recently experienced a bittersweet victory: through years of hard work they managed to reclaim a huge backlog of benefits payments owed to a young person using Centrepoint’s services. A huge and monumental success, yes -but it certainly wasn’t an easy win.
Our legal team make up a vital part of the service we offer young people at Centrepoint. For those seeking legal support, it can be incredibly difficult to attain without financial aid, and so many often go without. Centrepoint is here to help change that. Nabila, a legal administrator coming to the end of a secondment with the Legal Team, tells us about what she has learnt during her time with the department and the important service they provide.
