Homeless people could die without more funding - charity

Cai Garland says being homeless at 16 was "the most horrifying feeling in the world"

People could die unless homelessness services receive more funding, a charity fears.

The director of homelessness and housing charity Cymorth Cymru said vital projects were "on a cliff edge" and could collapse.

Former rough sleeper Cai Garland, 18, said he would be "in jail or dead" without the Welsh government-funded scheme that helped him.

The Welsh government said it protected the Housing Support Grant (HSG).

The HSG funds the majority of homelessness and housing-related support services in Wales.

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It is designed to help prevent homelessness and support vulnerable people facing a wide range of problems, including debt, substance misuse, sexual abuse and mental health issues.

But the £167m grant has not risen since the Covid pandemic, despite increasing demand on services.

'Going down a very bad rabbit hole'

Cai, from Llandudno, was placed in care at the age of 15.

He was regularly in trouble with the police and became homeless after leaving the care system.

He said he found himself part of a "very bad group of people" involved in county lines drug dealing.

"I was very, very badly going down a very bad rabbit hole, and it's scary to look back on," he said.

Cymorth Cymru says vital housing projects are "on a cliff edge"

Realising he had to make a change, last year Cai sought the help of Isallt - a scheme run by ClwydAlyn housing association which provides support and accommodation for young people aged 16 to 25.

Isallt gets its funding from the HSG.

Without the service's help, Cai said: "I'd be in jail, or dead, one of the two."

"I definitely wouldn't be sitting here, about to move in to a new flat with money, a girlfriend, never being happier with my family," he added.

Cai said being homeless at 16 was "the most horrifying feeling in the world - thinking 'how am I going to eat tonight?' or 'am I going to have somewhere that's going to be warm?'"

"You can't even put it into words because it's just that frightening," he added.

Asked what would happen if future funding left the service unable to continue, Cai said: "A lot of people are going to get a lot worse. There's a lot of people here who depend on services like this."

He added: "The staff here show you how to live, and what you need to do to become the version of yourself that you want to be."

'Terrified'

Cymorth Cymru director Katie Dalton said homelessness services were "teetering on the edge of collapse".

"We know that so many have had to reduce service capacity already, despite the increase in demand for homelessness services," she added.

Katie Dalton, director of a homelessness charity, says services are "teetering on the edge of collapse"

"If we don't see that increase then services will close, and peoples' lives will be at risk."

In September 2023, 11,228 people were living in temporary accommodation in Wales.

Ms Dalton warned that number would increase if services were cut due to a lack of money.

"I'm terrified," she said. "I've worked in and around the housing support sector for 11 or 12 years and I've never known it to be as scary as it is now."

Cymorth Cymru and Community Housing Cymru, representing more than 100 housing associations and charities in Wales, recently compiled a report which found the sector had suffered a £24m real-term cut in funding since 2011/12.

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About 75% of support providers which responded said services funded by the HSG were running at a deficit and 52% were subsidising services from their reserves.

Asked what the likely scenario would be if the HSG was not increased for 2024/25, 40% said they were likely to hand back contracts, while 77% said they were likely to reduce capacity.

A Welsh government spokesperson said: "We recognise the immense pressures facing frontline housing support services and the importance of their work.

"This is why we have protected the Housing Support Grant in our recent budget so that it remains at £166.7m, despite the extraordinarily difficult budgetary position.

"Ministers faced an incredibly difficult task in setting a budget for next year. Dialogue continues with key stakeholders to consider how we can work collaboratively to deliver our shared ambition to end homelessness in Wales."