Following a year of increasing pressure on homelessness services, Stevenage Borough Council has relaunched its contactless scanner point scheme in partnership with Haven First and the police.
The contactless scanners will directly donate £3 per tap to the work Haven First does for the homeless communities of Stevenage and North Herts.
Services have been under considerable strain over the last year due to rapidly rising homelessness numbers, despite government intervention through the 'Everyone In' initiative.
Working together with other agencies to ensure the safety of the homeless individuals protected under ‘Everyone In’, Stevenage Borough Council and Haven First have worked tirelessly so as many people as possible could be temporarily accommodated - and then moved into permanent accommodation where appropriate.
These scanners will directly support this work as well as the running of the residential hostels that Haven First manages.
There will be three scanners placed around Stevenage: Tesco in The Forum, in the Haven First reception at the customer services desk in the council offices.
Leader of Stevenage Borough Council Sharon Taylor said: “We’ve worked with the police and Haven First to move the boxes to a more prominent place in the town centre, which will ensure that even more members of the public can make donations to help those most in need in Stevenage."
Barbara Howard, chief executive of Haven First, expressed her gratitude for the continued support. She added: “We are very grateful for the support we are receiving from Stevenage Borough Council, Herts police and the local community in the face of rising homelessness as a result of the pandemic.
"We have been expanding our residential services as well as our outreach work over the last few years to suit the ever-increasing need for homelessness support and the funds raised through these scanners will help immensely."
The Haven has hostels in Stevenage and Hitchin, with plans for a purpose-built shelter to go ahead in Letchworth.
You can find the scanners at the reception of Haven First and the customer services desks at Tesco and Stevenage council offices.
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