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World Suicide Prevention Day 2017: Let’s talk

Ahead of World Suicide Prevention Day this Sunday 10 September, Riverside Care and Support’s Liz Turner considers why talking and listening could help to save a life. Every year, more than 800,000 people die by suicide and up to 25 times as many make a suicide attempt. Some of these people may be linked to
Read moreAn unprecedented threat to supported housing

By John Glenton, Executive Director for Riverside Care and Support. The National Housing Federation’s ‘Starts at Home’ campaign which launched on Friday (1/9/17) comes at a crucial time for supported housing providers. For not only are we responding to huge increases in the numbers of homeless and older people needing support, we are also in
Read moreStarts at Home day: Why providing homes and support for homeless people is so important

Three decades ago, John Glenton began work as a chef in a supported housing scheme. Today he runs national care and support services for the same organisation, Riverside. On Starts at Home day, he reflects on the importance of providing homes and support for homeless people as uncertainty over government funding for the sector continues…
Read morePromoting open conversations about mental health

It’s Mental Health Awareness Week (May 8 to 14, 2017). Here, Helen Gore, Head of Supported Housing, reflects on Riverside’s commitment to ending the stigma surrounding depression, anxiety and other conditions… Riverside recognises that the often traumatic histories experienced by the vulnerable people in our services means many of them will face some kind of
Read moreSupported housing: MPs call on Government to think again after hearing evidence from Riverside

A cross-party report from MPs today urged the Government to scrap plans to base housing benefit funding for vulnerable people living in supported housing on private sector rents. They said that if the proposals go ahead as planned, they could lead to a serious shortfall in the availability of specialist housing for vulnerable people, including
Read moreTrying to push a ‘round shaped’ sector into an ‘LHA shaped’ hole…

What next for the funding of supported housing? As the sector awaits the outcome of a government inquiry, Simon Ketteridge, Riverside Care and Support’s Director of Business Development, considers the challenges that lie ahead… Every year, we support 16,000 customers in more than 300 homelessness and Retirement Living services across the country. Many of these
Read moreOlder people’s housing can be part of answer to UK’s homes shortage

After recently giving evidence to the Communities and Local Government Select Committee, Riverside’s Executive Director of Care and Support, John Glenton, offers his views on the future of supported housing for older people… The UK currently has a shortage of affordable housing. Not only is the supply of new homes not meeting demand, but the
Read moreConsultation reveals regional inequality of supported housing LHA caps

The Government consultation on the funding of supported housing closed on 13 February and we must now await the Green Paper in the spring which will set out further detailed information. Riverside advocates the need for supported housing funding reform as the current system is unsustainable, and there is much to welcome in the Government’s
Read moreNew affordable home ownership made possible with £15m funding

Hundreds of more people will be able to get a foot on the property ladder after Riverside secured over £15 million to build more than 500 new homes. We were successful in securing funding from the Homes and Communities Agency’s Shared Ownership and Affordable Homes Programme to give more people the opportunity to have an
Read moreSupported Housing: the new North South Divide

Carol Matthews, Riverside’s Chief Executive, examines the regional disparities of Local Housing Allowance rates. Supported housing is high cost and low margin social housing provision, it provides homes and services for the most vulnerable people in society. The Government has acknowledged its importance in the recent consultation document, but the decision to change the way supported housing is
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