JANE Hutt AM visited Holton Road on Friday, August 7, to find out about a project that provides accommodation and support for people who have experienced homelessness.

Managed by not for profit housing care and support provider, Gwalia, the project provides both accommodation-based support service to who are motivated to change their offending or substance use behaviour and support within the community to people who are at risk of becoming homeless.

Andrew Vye, Gwalia’s director of Housing and Support, explained more about the project, “Our accommodation offers a stable base for people whose lives are sometimes unsettled and is made up of four apartments specifically for people between the ages of 16-21 and seven apartments for those aged 21 plus. Residents can take advantage of the support on offer to make changes in their lives, gaining the skills needed to prevent homelessness in the future. Accessing a range of activities to improve physical, mental and emotional health and wellbeing is also encouraged as is engaging in volunteering, education or training opportunities.

“We also provide up to 36 hours of support a week to 12 individuals within the community, using an early intervention approach to prevent further cases of homelessness.”

The Minister for Finance and Government Business was able to hear from some of the people who benefit from the services provided at Holton Road and how the services have benefitted their lives.

Lisa who lives at Holton Road explained how the support she’s received has benefitted her, “I’ve been living here for just seven weeks and in this time the support I’ve received has helped me to get a part time job. I applied for the job online in the IT suite here and I’m doing really well.

"I’m a qualified hairdresser and my goal is to set up my own business as a mobile hairdresser, the staff have already suggested ways that I could get funding to start up a business and in time I’m hoping with their support I can make my dream a reality.”

Speaking about her visit Jane Hutt said, "I am very impressed with the housing support provided by Gwalia in the Vale of Glamorgan which meets the needs of vulnerable people in my constituency."

Mr Vye continued, “As a preventative service, the Supporting People programme helps to reduce demand on other services – just one example of the wider societal benefits it achieves. Our project at Holton Road reduces demand on social services, the criminal justice system, the NHS and the emergency services to name a few. We are delighted that Jane Hutt could come and spend some time with us and find out more about how supporting people funding is being used to make a real difference to people’s lives here in Vale of Glamorgan.”