Lancaster District Street Aid
Lancaster District Street Aid helps former rough sleepers stay off the streets for good by funding essential and useful items which help people maintain tenancies and improve their lives.
By supporting Street Aid, local people have a cashless way of making a real change and an alternative to offering money on the street – which is often used to feed drug or alcohol dependency even among those in supported housing with specialist health services.
Initiated by Lancaster City Council, Lancaster Business Improvement District, Lancaster & Morecambe Police and LDCVS, Street Aid helps the public show support for people who are determined to stay off the streets and turn their lives around.
“That one act of kindness gave him dignity”
Danny Casey from Calico told us about the difference a grant made to one of the people he supported:
“Looking back the difference it made to him is huge. The support from Street Aid was the spark that set everything in motion. That one act of kindness gave him dignity, motivation, and the first step towards rebuilding his life.
“He is now living independently in his own flat – something that once felt impossible.”
Creating a more comfortable home and a more meaningful life is an effective way of helping people stay away from the streets.
How does Street Aid work?
Street Aid’s only source of income is through donations from individuals and businesses. You can make donations of any value as a one-off or regular contribution through Paypal, or donate £3 right away by texting STREET to 70450.*
Support workers in local assistance organisations apply to Street Aid on behalf of people they work with, explaining what the individual needs and how it will help. Grants are paid to the supporting organisation and spent on the agreed goods and services.
Since 2021, over £20,000 in donations has helped more than 70 people with things like training courses to help them get back to work in their former careers, travel passes to ease access to work and hobbies, replacement identification documents needed to gain tenancies and employment, and household essentials such as mattresses, freezers, dryers and carpets.
As one man who benefitted in 2022 explained, “me and my family were in a very hard situation and this helped a lot. Sometimes people fall on hard times and to have this service helps people feel normal.”
How do your donations help?
“Having the travel vouchers made it possible for me to get to my hospital appointments … Street Aid not only improved my life – it significantly changed it for the good.”
- Let’s Befriends obtained a grant for SC, who was in temporary accommodation in Morecambe. Street Aid provided a bus pass so that he could return to Lancaster for medical appointments.
- PS was supported by Calico to receive a grant for trainers and gym gear, so that they could access the gym at Salt Ayre, improving their physical health and mental wellbeing. This helped them to focus on taking positive action in other areas of their life.
- WD had been rehoused but was facing huge energy bills as their landlord had removed the carpets from their accommodation at the end of the last tenancy. Let’s Befriends helped out by applying for a Street Aid grant for the cost of new carpets.
- Street Aid helped Furniture Matters and Let’s Befriends purchase essential furniture for NH, who had been street homeless before engaging with support and getting rehoused in unfurnished accommodation.
Support organisations interested in accessing Street Aid grants on behalf of their service users can find guidance and a link to the application form on our Funding Opportunities page.
*Donations by text message cost £3 plus your standard network message rate.
