Ty Pride – LGBTQ+ Homelessness
Part two of a blog series on LGBTQ+ Homelessness
Ty Pride – LGBTQ+ Homelessness
Following on from our part on blog on The Outside Project in London, we continue our series of blogs looking at good practice LGBTQ+ homelessness services by highlighting the work of Ty Pride in Denbighshire.
Ty Pride, a project located in Denbighshire, provides supported accommodation and services for LGBTQ+ young people between the ages of 16 and 25. Funded by the Welsh Government innovation fund, it offers a core house with 24/7 support for three young people, a move-on property in a nearby flat, and floating support in the community.
Run in partnership by Denbighshire County Council, national homelessness charity Llamau and Viva LGBTQ+, we talked to staff at Tŷ Pride during our Gwent based research into LGBTQ+ Homelessness. We heard about the importance of coproduction at Tŷ Pride:
“It’s really important that the space is a space that they can take ownership of, and they’ve created, the youngsters have been part of co-producing the project from the onset, so the youngsters, chose the name, it was the very first youngsters that came into the project and I remember a meeting where we all sat around, what do you think it should be called, there were all sorts of things that were banded about and it was them that decided on Tŷ Pride , which is fantastic, and then they co-produced a respect chart, that we have, because we don’t really have rules and I think it needs to be something more co-produced and balanced with them so they have had a heavy input in that as well, in that respect charter. “
Homelessness and LGBTQ+ people in Gwent Report, Tai Pawb (2022)
The demand for Tŷ Pride’s services is evident, with 70 referrals and/or enquiries for the three available spaces over four years. This will be an underestimate of ‘need’ as the project has not actively advertised to secure referrals. Understanding the real demand for services like this is essential for planning and meeting this need, Local authorities can do this through monitoring the number of LGBTQ+ people presenting themselves as homeless.
(Support on equality monitoring and customer profiling available here for Tai Pawb members)
“I think all of our youngsters would agree that they have all felt relieved on entering the project, that it is a project that is specifically for LGBTQ+ youngsters, so they can all celebrate their identity, which is fantastic, and doing it without fear, of you know, of being in what could potentially happen if they were in general need provision, and in fact some of our youngsters have been in general need provision and have suffered from homophobic attacks, trans phobic attacks and it can really set a youngster back”.
Homelessness and LGBTQ+ people in Gwent Report, Tai Pawb (2022)
The project prides itself on taking a trauma informed approach to support:
“The project itself is a really psychologically informed environment, I mean you (could) walk in and not necessarily know it was a project straight away, I think ultimately that was our goal(…) you can come in and kick your shoes off and put your feet on the sofa, get a blanket and cuddle up, it’s been really important that that’s there for them and I think all would agree that it’s got that in abundance in the project.”
Homelessness and LGBTQ+ people in Gwent Report, Tai Pawb (2022)
Ty Pride underlines the importance of LGBTQ+ specific supported accommodation and services. The demand for such initiatives is evident through the waiting list for projects like this. By providing LGBTQ+ inclusive services and creating safe and supportive environments, we can ensure that young LGBTQ+ people feel empowered and supported, leading to better outcomes and improved well-being. The Tŷ Pride partnership also delivers educational and awareness raising training to external teams and individual practitioners and managers from many organisations; including housing team managers, housing support workers, health professionals, primary and secondary schools. This has also helped to raise awareness of the project and its aims and objectives.
If you wish to speak to one of the partners involved in this innovative project, please get in touch with: emmaevans@llamau.org.uk, Shannon.Richardson@denbighshire.gov.uk, or Hannah@rhylyouth.co.uk
To find out more about the project be sure to read the Ty Pride – Three Years On Report
In the next blog of this series we will focus on the London Borough of Haringey which has undergone a transformative journey in its approach to housing support for LGBTQ+ individuals facing homelessness.
You can read the first blog in the series here: The Outside Project