GMHP member releases film documenting experience of rough sleeping in Manchester
Our member organisation Riverside has released a powerful short film about one man’s experience sleeping rough in Manchester, his recovery journey, and how he has drawn on this lived experience to engage with and support others who find themselves in a similar position.
Glyn – who worked in Riverside’s Housing First team, part of the Greater Manchester Housing First partnership – has shared his experience of entrenched rough sleeping, substance abuse, supported housing, being stabbed and rehabilitation.
The film sees Glyn speaking about these experiences in different locations around Manchester.
At one point, Glyn speaks from Riverside’s SASH supported housing project in Salford, where he lived for several months.
Glyn goes on to describe how through support, rehab and his own grit and determination, he turned his life around and eventually became a Housing First worker where he has used his own lived experience to engage and make a hugely positive impact on the lives of people with complex needs. Today Glyn works in a similar role in another organisation outside of Greater Manchester.
The Greater Manchester Housing First (GMHF) partnership has helped to support more than 410 people, with multiple and complex needs who are homeless or at risk of homelessness across all 10 Greater Manchester boroughs, into a home of their own.
GMHF is a housing led partnership of 12 organisations including GMHP members, Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust, partners in the private rented sector, and homelessness charities and support providers which uses housing as a platform to enable individuals with complex needs to begin recovery and move away from homelessness.
The GMHP partners involved have played a key role in the project’s success. Along with the partnership being led by GMHP partner Great Places, accommodation offers are the lifeblood of the project’s success, and the vast majority of people have been placed in a home provided by the GMHP partners who have volunteered to pledge properties to the programme.
GMHP provide social and affordable housing across Greater Manchester which has a direct effect on preventing homelessness. Many members also provide supported housing, Housing First, and floating support services, which are all crucial in helping people escape homelessness and rough sleeping.