Good Shepherd Present At DLUHC

Good Shepherd CEO Tom Hayden and Service Manager Chris Cole were delighted to be guest speakers at an awayday for staff of the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. 

Tom and Chris, who has responsibility for the LEAP project which offers training and volunteering opportunities to people with lived experience of homelessness, spoke at the event which was held at Grand Station in Wolverhampton. 

“It was a real honour for Chris and myself to speak to the Levelling Up directorate about the work of the Good Shepherd and our work with partners across the city to address rough sleeping and homelessness,” said Tom. 

“It was good to discuss the importance of focusing on levelling up for everyone and making sure that people have access to the opportunities and support that they need. 

“Everyone seemed really passionate about the Levelling Up agenda and making a difference to communities, and we really appreciated the opportunity to be able to outline our experiences from the work ourselves and other agencies are delivering in Wolverhampton.” 

Tom and Chris’s presentation included an overview of the variety of services provided by the Good Shepherd, statistics outlining the increasing demand prompted by challenges associated with the cost of living, and real life examples of service users who have had their lives changed thanks to support from the charity. 

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities is a ministerial department which aims to support communities across the UK, and has a base in Wolverhampton as well as London.