By Joe Locker, Local Democracy Reporter
A network of contactless donation points across Nottingham have helped raise around £12,000 to support people facing homelessness.
The Nottingham Street Aid initiative launched in February 2023 as a way for people to reliably donate directly to people in need of support.
It launched as the number of people sleeping rough or facing homelessness has been increasing.
Dr Paul Scotting has been coordinating the initiative.
He told the Local Democracy Reporting Service the contactless points dotted across the city have helped raise £12,000 so far, including a single donation of £5,000 from Ruddington software firm Ideagen.
“In the first 12 months of the project we raised about £12,000,” he said.
“We are now bringing in over £500 per month from the public with a slow increase month-by-month.
“We are now accepting bids from charities for grants from the fund to support homeless individuals.”
In January this year, 120 families who had lost their homes sought help from Nottingham City Council.
There were also 650 families in temporary accommodation in Nottingham at the end of January, with 143 of them in hotels arranged by the authority.
Last year charities working in the city also said there had been an increase in the number of people sleeping rough on the streets, with this figure reaching 1,300 people found in a year.
The costs of homelessness to the council have been cited as a major reason for its recent financial difficulties, having declared effective bankruptcy in November and approved sweeping cuts to services and jobs in March.
Temporary accommodation alone is predicted to cost the council £6.7m this financial year, outstripping its £4m budget.
Charities that have registered with Nottingham Street Aid can also apply to the fund at any time on behalf of an individual to purchase specific items that will help them move on from homelessness.
An independent panel then reviews applications before approving them.
Nottingham Street Aid checks that every penny given is spent on the items requested and evaluates the extent to which the money achieves its goal.
Applications for funding opened on January 2 and money is expected to be given out in grants over the next few months.
Contactless points can now be found in the Victoria Centre, the Theatre Royal, Clumber Street McDonald’s, the new Central Library, the Navigation Inn as well as in Sherwood high street, West Bridgford on Central Avenue and in Lady Bay’s Bread and Lard Island café.
