182 - helping boost engagement in rough sleeping census - Nov 24

 Back in the summer, we were approached by one of our members who is involved with homeless charity Shelter. They explained that Shelter was working in collaboration with the charities Framework, SWWOP and Chocolate Box for their services to be involved in this year’s Women’s rough sleeping census being run by Solace Women’s Aid.

The census is designed to collect information about women who experience very hidden and high risk forms of homelessness such as rough sleeping.
It is an important survey to give these extremely marginalised and vulnerable women a voice and the more participants they get involved, the more the organisers can understand about the issue within Sheffield. Findings relating to Sheffield are shared with local commissioners within Sheffield City Council with the intention of highlighting the extent of the issue and for this data to inform future commissioning of services/accommodation for these women.
One of the challenges in organising this kind of census is getting participants to engage. To ensure that as many women as possible got involved the organisers asked if we could help fund their proposal to offer a £10 voucher and a small care package for each of the women who completed the survey as an incentive to increase participation. Aside from getting them to share their views, the women involved, many who are currently street homeless, would of course really benefit from both the voucher and care package.
None of the organisations involved had any spare funding to fully cover the costs and we liked the idea of being able to help the census hear as many voices as possible to guide future policy as well as giving these small gifts to women who would really benefit.
We understand a lot of valuable data was gathered through the survey and the women were very complimentary about the care packages.

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