£2.9m in Government funding will support councils, charities, faith organisations and others to work together this winter – forming part of a wider £12.3m investment in tackling rough sleeping across the West of England over the next three years.
Mayor Godwin made the announcement during a day of visits to homelessness services in Bristol, highlighting both the scale of the challenge and the strength of the support available across the city. The Mayor joined a rough sleeping outreach shift with St Mungo’sin the early hours of the morning, visited the Turnaround Day Centre during its busy lunchtime service, and attended the Bristol Homeless Forum, which brings together charities, frontline services and organisations working to tackle homelessness across Bristol.The visits provided an opportunity to hear directly from people with lived experience, outreach workers and support organisations as partners prepare for a coordinated regional response this winter.
The first year’s funding is being distributed directly to the region’s four unitary authorities to work with outreach teams and specialist homelessness services. Across September 2026, at least 332 people were identified through rough sleeping monitoring andoutreach activity across the region. This funding will help provide continued access to safe accommodation and personalised support, helping people move away from rough sleeping and towards longer-term housing solutions.
The work forms part of the Prime Minister’s national drive to end rough sleeping, backed by £846m of Government investment over the course of this Parliament, including an additional £432m announced since August. The ambition is to ensure everyone sleepingrough is offered support into accommodation by Christmas, with Mayor Helen Godwin setting an even more ambitious target for the region by encouraging partners to ensure offers are made to all people rough sleeping in the West by 15 December.
TheWest of England has so far been allocated £12.3 million over three years through the Rough Sleeping Programme, with an increase in funding to be confirmed in the coming weeks.
The immediate focus is on helping people access a safe place to stay this winter, but the ambition goes further. Many of the accommodation options being created are expected to remain available until March 2027, giving people more time to access support andplan their next steps. Partners will also work together to help people move into more settled accommodation and reduce the risk of a return to rough sleeping.
To drive this work, Mayor Godwin has established the Mayoral Rough Sleeping Strategic Coordination Group, bringing together local councils and the voluntary, community and faith sector to coordinate the regional response, share expertise and ensure supportreaches those who need it most.
The approach is being shaped by the local knowledge and frontline experience of the partners, who are working together to build a shared picture of need, coordinate accommodation and support, and make sure the region’s resources are focused where they can havethe greatest impact.
Over the next three years, the investment will also help create a more regionally coordinated and sustainable approach to tackling rough sleeping: strengthening prevention, improving pathways into longer-term accommodation and enhancing support for people with multipledisadvantages.
Helen Godwin, Mayor of the West of England, said:
“Rough sleeping is devastating at any time of year, but the winter months can be particularly challenging. Everyone deserves somewhere safe to sleep and the support they need to move forward with their lives.
“I’m incredibly impressed by the hardworking, unrelenting and collaborative homelessness sector we have here in the West of England. Councils, charities, outreach teams and faith organisations have mobilised at pace and come together around a shared ambitionto make a real difference for people sleeping rough.
“We have more than £12 million in Government funding to support this work, and I’m challenging our partners to go even further by ensuring everyone sleeping rough is offered a route off the streets by 15 December.
“I want the West of England to lead the way in showing what can be achieved when councils, charities and communities work together around a shared goal. By bringing together the expertise and commitment of organisations across our region, we have a real opportunityto help people find somewhere safe to stay this winter and build the foundations for lasting change.”
In a joint statement welcoming the funding earlier,Councillor Kevin Guy, Leader of Bath & North East Somerset Council; Councillor Tony Dyer, Leader of Bristol City Council and Deputy Mayor of the West of England; Councillor Mike Bell, Leader of NorthSomerset Council; Councillor Maggie Tyrrell, Leader of South Gloucestershire Council, and Councillor Ian Boulton, Co-Leader of South Gloucestershire Council, said:
“We welcome this additional funding, which will help us provide vital support for people who are sleeping rough or at risk of homelessness during the winter months.
“Working with charities, housing providers and community organisations, councils play a key role in helping people access accommodation and the support they need. This funding will strengthen those efforts and help more people find a route away from roughsleeping.
“While the additional funding is an important step in addressing homelessness, it is only one part of our wider efforts to support people into secure accommodation. Increasing the supply of affordable homes across the region will also be essential if weare to tackle the housing crisis and prevent more people from becoming homeless in the future.
“We look forward to working with the Mayor and our partners to ensure this support reaches those who need it most.”
