Business News The Griffin Report


Jean Templeton has been at the helm of the region’s biggest youth homelessness charity, St Basil’s, for nearly two decades. Her commitment to tackling homelessness and rough sleeping was recognised at the Chamber’s annual dinner when she received the President’s Award from Saqib Bhatti. Jean spoke to Chamberlink’s award-winning columnist Jon Griffin about the depth of the homelessness crisis – and how business can be part of the solution


workplace for vulnerable young people. The ambition to end cycles of misery for


T


poverty-stricken 16 to 25 year-olds is articulated forcefully by Jean Templeton, chief executive of St Basil’s, the region’s biggest youth homelessness charity. After more than 18 years at the helm at St


Basil’s, Jean – recently honoured with the Greater Birmingham Chamber of Commerce’s President's Award for her sterling work with the homeless – warms to her theme with conviction. “We need business to help us create pathways


into employment for young people. We have an employment team that are entirely funded by charitable donations. I cannot tell you how important their work is. “There is a real will from the business sector


to be part of the solution and to understand that there is a real social issue here. There is a far greater willingness to work together, but there is always room for more. “Being a member of the Chamber is really important. We need pathways to work – and as a charity, we need financial support.” Jean, who also chairs the West Midlands


mayor’s Homelessness Taskforce and is a member of the Government’s advisory panel on Rough Sleeping and Homelessness, reels off a number of statistics to illustrate the depth of the UK's housing problems and the grim consequences for both individuals and families. “There is a homelessness crisis out there. We


have not got enough affordable housing and as a result of that, there is a crisis. “It is not just rough sleeping. You have got thousands of families in temporary accommodation, including bed and breakfast, some of them many miles from their towns and cities of origin.” Jean backs up her knowledge with figures


which highlight just how difficult life can be for thousands of families and individuals with no permanent roof over their heads. “All types of homelessness have increased


since 2010. Rough sleeping has gone up by 165 per cent in that time.” She cites three key reasons why statutory homelessness – often families to whom local authorities have a legal duty to help – has risen by 42 per cent since 2009-10: domestic abuse, the ending of short-term tenancies and families no longer willing or able to accommodate younger members. “There are wider systemic issues, including a


lack of supply of truly affordable housing, welfare reform and the rollout of universal credit which has increased rent arrears. “There is a large gap between the amount of housing assistance that people will get and the


16 CHAMBERLINK June 2019


he West Midlands business community can play a crucial role in beating the homeless crisis – providing pathways into the


Chamber president Saqib Bhatti and Jean Templeton


‘There is a homelessness crisis out there. We have not got enough affordable housing and as a result of that, there is a crisis’


actual level of rents. Those that are more at risk will be those that have fallen through the safety net. We are talking about tens of thousands of people a year.” Back to the statistics – in 2017-18 St Basils


alone helped 4,544 young people aged 16 to 25 considered homeless or at risk. Problems for those caught up in the housing


crisis included self-harm, suicidal thoughts, drugs and alcohol and criminal convictions. 65 per cent had multiple support needs centred around those factors while 40 per cent had mental health issues. Faced with those stark statistics, St Basils rose


to the challenge in impressive fashion. A total of 91.2 per cent of young people were prevented


from becoming homeless, while 1,534 young people lived with the Birmingham charity during the year. 92 per cent achieved positive outcomes and left in a “planned, positive way.’ Jean reiterates that the biggest problem at


the heart of the housing crisis and the heartbreak it causes to so many people in an era of unprecedented wealth worldwide is lack of affordable housing. “Nationally, 300,000 new homes are needed,


90,000 of them social homes or social rents. In 2017-18 the figure for social housing was 6,500. There is a huge gap. “The housing supply is diminishing and we are


not building enough to replace them. You have fewer people able to buy because people need massive deposits. “You have issues of supply, issues of welfare,


issues of benefits reform and issues of in-work poverty. People end up on a downward spiral, with families struggling and under pressure. In 2017 the Bank of Mum and Dad was the ninth largest mortgage lender. The issue is societal.”


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