A homeless service for young people in Herefordshire is at risk, following the latest round of funding cuts from Herefordshire Council. SHYPP, the Supported Housing for Young People Project, are urging the citizens of Herefordshire to sign a petition calling on Herefordshire Council to reverse its proposed 66% funding cuts to the service.

The council are currently consulting with SHYPP about the cuts. Cuts last year had led to the end of the homeless prevention project SHYPP had run in schools, but the latest cuts go much deeper.

Sam Pratley, Managing Director of WM Homes, which runs SHYPP, said: “We are especially concerned about cuts leading to the increased use of inappropriate temporary accommodation in poorly adapted bed and breakfast accommodation, placing already very vulnerable people more at risk without any support.”

Hugo Suggs, who relied on SHYPP services to get back on his feet after being left homeless and sleeping on the streets in Hereford, said: “I owe my life to SHYPP because there were times when I considered jumping off a bridge because I didn’t feel like a person - I was living on the street, I didn’t have a home or food, I didn’t have money and now that is all at risk. I got lucky, who will be there for the next person?”

Mr Pratley continued: “Removing support for young people will not only lead to increased homelessness and tenancy failure but remove the safety net that SHYPP have provided for years to prevent them from becoming more vulnerable or becoming a risk to themselves or their local community. With rural services already hard to deliver and other crucial services like CAB being cut, access to advice and support for vulnerable people in our county will disappear.”

SHYPP are asking members of the public to show their support by signing an online petition, which they plan to present to Councillor Patricia Morgan, who is a key County Councillor responsible for housing. They are also hoping to use social media in addition to the petition to demonstrate support shown to them. Supporters of the organisation can add the hashtag #SupportSHYPP in order to do this.

WM Housing Group has worked in partnership with the Herefordshire Council since 1998 to develop the multi-award winning project SHYPP. The project has been such a success that other councils across the Midlands have replicated the model using the same principle of providing a pathway from preventing homelessness (in schools, colleges and in times of crisis), through the chaos of homelessness and into independent, sustainable lifestyles and tenancies.