Young homeless to move into hostel
South Wales Argus: 21 March 2007
THE first residents at a new £950,000 hostel for young homeless people are to move in on Monday.
Hales House, in Pontypool, will provide shelter and support for 20 young people from Torfaen for a six-month period.
Torfaen council says there are around 300 homeless young people in the area at the moment.
Many are placed in bed-and-breakfast accommodation as far away as Bristol, an arrangement which can cost the council as much as £450,000 a year.
The hostel, which was funded by the Assembly, will be staffed 24 hours and managed by SOLAS, a voluntary organisation which runs hostels all over South Wales and which is part of the Seren group, a Newport based housing support service. Manager, Sue Hardwick, who opened a 21-bed hostel in Abergavenny two years ago, said some nearby residents had expressed concerns about the project.
But she said experience in Abergavenny had shown local people became overwhelmingly supportive once the project was up and running.
“This is a service for young people from Torfaen,” she said.
“We have six project workers who will support the clients, looking at various re-housing options, as well as helping them to develop life skills. We will be working closely with neighbours to make sure of what goes on at the hostel.”
Youngsters will only have access to the hostel via referral from the council.
The facility contains self-contained flats with cooking facilities, and there are also some communal areas.
Councillor Gwyneira Clark, executive member for housing, said: “Young people are often made homeless by situations beyond their control and problems are compounded when they are moved out of their community and away from a network on which they rely.”
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