London Councils Extends LYG Support

We’re very pleased to confirm that London Councils has decided to continue to support our London Youth Gateway partnership for another four years as its only youth homelessness commission.

The London Youth Gateway offers free, open access and pan-London services to 16-25 year olds who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. We help them to access accommodation, get into employment and education, improve their wellbeing, and to prevent homelessness.

As a partnership we tackle youth homelessness together. We combine the resources of lead partner New Horizon Youth Centre, Depaul UK, Shelter, Stonewall Housing, Albert Kennedy Trust and Galop. As such the London Youth Gateway successfully provides precisely the kind of holistic, tailored and high impact services that this increasing client group needs – including the many who are ‘non-priority homeless’ but who urgently need support.

Services

During 2017-2021 the London Youth Gateway will provide:

• specialist accommodation and housing advice and support, including Nightstop and LGBT accommodation
• homelessness prevention services such as family mediation, floating support, independent living workshops and workshops at schools and colleges
• intensive education, training and employment support
• benefit advice, debt support and financial literacy development
• onsite, low threshold primary health care and counselling
• support  in addressing underlying problems such as mental health, low self esteem, emotional and/or behavioural issues
• life skills development
• specialist understanding and activities that will maximise the impact for specific groups, such as homeless LGBT young people, young offenders, young migrants, gang-affiliated young people
• services to the most hard-to-reach young people by our pan-London outreach and availability via college, prisons and young offenders institutes and satellite advice service throughout the capital
• an U25 Shelter London Advice Line - 0330 0536091

Contact and referral

The London Youth Gateway really wants to work alongside the London boroughs in order to respond to emerging needs and be able to supplement their work with young people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness.

For more referral and other details about our work, please see www.londonyouthgateway.org.uk. A youth-friendly version will be available soon.

We’d also really like to discuss our services, referral pathways and impact with you or your teams. Please contact the coordinator, Marike van Harskamp, to this end or with any other queries: marike.vanharskamp@nhyouthcentre.org.uk or 020 7388 5560.