The East of Scotland-based homelessness charity developed the project to provide tailor-made, peer-led advice and support to people sleeping rough in and around Edinburgh city, as part of their work towards bringing an end to homelessness. In just over a year, the project has been able to help dozens of people.

The Street Support Project was set up to provide models of good practice to policy makers, social services, and local authorities across Europe. Cyrenians was delighted that its Comic Relief-funded outreach service will serve as one such example of how to foster the social inclusion of people who live on the street and are using alcohol and/or drugs.

Cyrenians service manager Mike Wright said, “We were delighted to receive this acknowledgement, especially given how new this project is. To be recognised on the European stage as being able to provide advice about best practice is very humbling.

“At Cyrenians we believe in the power of relationship-based service provision. Everyone we support has their own experiences and one-size doesn’t fit all. We offer a safe space for individuals to work through any barriers they may have, and foster these relationships by moving away from more traditional service provision centred on strict appointments and the ‘three-strike’ rule.

“It’s clear from the success of our outreach programme, and the feedback we receive from those we support that our emphasis on the individual truly does work. Asking for help isn’t always easy, and navigating complex services can make that a very daunting task. We’re determined to make access to our services as easy as possible and by doing this we’ve succeeded in helping some of the most excluded individuals of society take positive steps towards a more secure and stable life.”

To find out more about the Homeless Navigator Project please visit here.