Durham council launches £100,000 homelessness fund

Durham County Council is offering grants of £2,000 to £10,000 for projects that prevent homelessness.

Cllr Dawn Bellingham, cabinet member for communities and civic resilience at Durham County Council, said: "We are pleased to offer this fresh, additional funding to support organisations in continuing to do their part to prevent homelessness across County Durham.

"Clearly, preventing situations such as forced evictions due to escalating debt would supplement all other support mechanisms already in place.

"We are working hard to ensure support is in place as early as possible for those facing that reality.

"We would encourage as many organisations as possible working in this area to bid for this support, and to demonstrate how their activity will assist us in homelessness prevention."

Organisations can apply more than once, but no single organisation can receive more than £10,000.

Projects must help people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness, but need not focus solely on homelessness if they clearly support prevention.

Applications are open from Thursday, October 1, to Friday, October 30.

Organisations can request an application form by emailing localnetworks@durham.gov.uk.