Budget threat to homeless charity
HOMELESS charity Shelter may have to shut its Gloucester office because of Government cuts to legal aid.
It relies on the money to pay for its work to help keep people off the streets.
The move by Whitehall means its budget for face-to-face services has been slashed by 50 per cent nationwide.
Its office in Saint Michael's Square, Gloucester, is one of many that provides advice for people looking at the prospect of life on the streets.
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Campbell Robb, chief executive of Shelter, said it is consulting staff about the impact to services and added: "If these services have to close as a result of cuts to legal aid, this will be a massive blow not only to our staff, but to the people in the affected areas.
"With the ongoing recession, benefit cuts, and the high cost of housing meaning more and more people struggling to keep a roof over their heads, now is the very worst time to be taking away the housing safety net that helps people stay in their homes."
Comments
by gomums
Friday, October 05 2012, 7:03PM
“Shelter were fantastic with me a few years back. I was refered to them by the Citizens Advice Bureau and they represented me in court. I dont know what will happen to people when they go.”
by redroses1903
Friday, October 05 2012, 3:02PM
“They are Shelter the housing and homelessness charity, unfortunately from a public perception all they see is the homelessness part. In reality very few of the clients assisted in Gloucestershire are street homeless, the majority of clients are in bad housing or at risk of losing their home.”
by FreeRadical1
Friday, October 05 2012, 2:48PM
“I agree. The wording should probably be something along the lines of 'housing charity' rather than 'homeless charity' (which is grammatically incorrect anyway).”
by redroses1903
Friday, October 05 2012, 10:23AM
“There appears to be a misconception that Shelter only assists homeless people. This is incorrect - Shelter Gloucestershire provides specialist housing advice on legal issues such as rent possession, mortgage possession, disrepair, landlord/tenant issues, illegal eviction and also provides court representation in Gloucester and Cheltenham via court desk on a weekly basis for rent and mortgage possession and warrants. The impact of the potential loss of this service will be massive and will affect many residents of Gloucestershire - not just the street homeless.”