Across the UK, homelessness continues to rise at a worrying pace. According to the Office for National Statistics, around 140,000 households were living in temporary accommodation across Great Britain as of March 2024, which is the highest level recorded. In England alone, 117,400 households were placed in temporary accommodation, a year-on-year increase of 12.3%, with more than 151,600 children affected. These figures reflect the human impact of wider economic pressures, rising housing costs, and the growing gap between Local Housing Allowance rates and private rents.
As the cost of living continues to outpace incomes, more people are struggling to maintain stable housing. Charities and frontline organisations working to prevent homelessness are facing unprecedented demand, often with limited resources to invest in staff development and support. Hence, interventions from responsible employers can make a meaningful difference across the UK.
In this context, Carlisle proudly made a meaningful contribution by gifting £15,000 of Apprenticeship Levy to Homeless Link, which is the national membership charity for homelessness services. This funding is supporting three members of their staff to undertake the Level 5 Coaching Professional qualification, enabling them to build the leadership and coaching capability needed to strengthen frontline services across the sector.
We believe that building capacity is more than just delivering services – it’s about nurturing the people who drive real change. By supporting coaching and leadership development, we hope to strengthen Homeless Link’s ability to guide and grow solutions to homelessness. Their strong L&D focus, combined with our gift levy, can prove to be transformative.
Matt Harrison, Deputy CEO at Homeless Link, shared the importance of this support:
“At Homeless Link, we have a strong commitment to learning and development, and we encourage our staff to study for qualifications. This apprenticeship programme was ideal for our staff, but we couldn’t afford to access it without the generous gift of Apprenticeship Levy funds from Carlisle Support Services. We are very grateful for their assistance, which will help us in our mission to end homelessness. We would encourage all large employers with unspent levy funds to find local charities to support in this way.”
The partnership was facilitated with the help of CVP, the training provider delivering the coaching apprenticeship. Adam Ariff, Skills Director at CVP, highlighted the value of the collaboration, describing it as “an excellent example of the apprenticeship levy being used to build leadership and coaching capability across the sector.”
This initiative reflects Carlisle’s wider commitment to investing in people, communities, and social impact. As Jane Pullan, Head of People Development at Carlisle Support Services, explains:
“At Carlisle, developing exceptional people extends beyond our own workforce. Levy sharing gives us the chance to support others in gaining valuable skills and qualifications, strengthening careers, organisations, and communities.”
Our Apprenticeship Levy transfers will help the charity to build skilled and highly confident teams to support at a time when their expertise and resilience are more urgently needed than ever. We are helping to build leadership in the homelessness sector, which, in turn, contributes to a stronger, more sustainable support for people experiencing homelessness.
This contribution stands as a part of Carlisle’s ongoing commitment to Corporate Social Responsibility and our belief in supporting local communities through people-centred initiatives. We also encourage other levy-paying employers to consider how their unused funds could create a similar impact.
Together, by investing in people, we can strengthen the services that protect society’s most vulnerable and move closer to a future where homelessness is no longer a persistent reality.
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Providing flexible, on-demand support to help organisations build resilience, mitigate risks, and adapt to the ever-changing political, socio-economic, and environmental landscape to deliver seamless event experiences.
Managing trees and vegetation for the UK’s public infrastructure and commercial spaces.
Delivering aesthetically pleasing environments whilst eliminating potential hazards and operational disruptions caused by vegetation.
Provide fully vetted, accredited officers equipped with the latest technologies to secure and protect your people, premises, assets and the wider public.
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Providing flexible, on-demand support to help organisations build resilience, mitigate risks, and adapt to the ever-changing political, socio-economic, and environmental landscape.
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Fulfilling the most complex single and multi-site cleaning requirements at an award-winning standard for over 30 years.
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