Bosco House is pleased to announce that their new premises, Bosco Lodge, will be opening in May. The new premises will provide 13 luxury bedrooms over three floors and has office space, a meeting room, and car parks back and front.

Bosco manager, Sheila Howard, said: “After winning the contract to provide supported housing, along with our consortium partners in the Sefton Supported Housing Group, last year, we had to double our capacity. Initially, we took on another hostel, the Sead project, last July. But, as the Sead was not up to our standards, we decided to look for other premises in the area and came across a building that was about to be refurbished.”

“It has been a long process to get the building up to the standard we provide at Bosco House, but it’s worth it to provide the best accommodation we can. We hope to move our residents out of the Sead project and into Bosco Lodge next month.”

“It has taken a while to get the new building up to scratch, but the builders are now putting in the finishing touches to the premises,” she added. “I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Deposit Protection Service (DPS) and Help The Homeless, who both provided funding for new furniture.”

James Heller, newly appointed senior worker at Bosco Lodge, said: “This is a great new venture for all of us. The residents and staff from the old Sead project are really excited about the move, as am I.”

“We can’t wait to get settled in, there’s a real buzz that this is a new beginning. The new Bosco Lodge is a fantastic building and the facilities are second to none. I’m also very proud that the Bosco trustees have decided to hold their AGM at Bosco Lodge as part of an official opening ceremony.”

The official opening of Bosco Lodge and the Bosco Society AGM will be held on Friday the 29^th of July.

Homeless charities are demanding urgent changes to housing policy across Britain after an investigation by The Independent uncovered cases of children dying from neglect and abuse after families were moved out of their local authority boundaries.

Apparently, councils are moving homeless families out of their local areas on an unprecedented scale to save money on accommodation, but they are frequently neglecting to share records with each other. This has meant that thousands of vulnerable women and children are completely off the radar of support services.

Figures obtained by The Independent show that at least 64,704 homeless families were moved out of London boroughs between July 2011 and June 2015. More recent data has yet to be collated.

The research suggests at least a third of families are moved without information being shared with the receiving council, though it is not known how high that figure could potentially be. Councils are legally obliged to send notification under Section 208 of the Housing Act 1996.

But Javed Khan, chief executive of homeless charity Barnardo’s, told The Independent:  “Children’s lives can be put at risk if homeless families fall off the radar of authorities. Councils must share information more effectively to stop that happening.”

Shelter’s chief executive, Campbell Robb, said that out-of-area moves are “far too common and can have a disastrous effect on health and wellbeing” but that one problem is the Government not giving councils “realistic budgets to find accommodation locally.”

“The modest proposals in the Budget to tackle homelessness are simply inadequate given the scale of this problem, and will not reach the thousands of homeless families hidden away in cramped B&Bs and dingy hostel rooms.”

Dave Hill, president of The Association of Directors of Children’s Services (ADCS), said: “The importance of close liaison and good communications between local authorities is particularly pressing where there are vulnerable children or safeguarding concerns, but we also have a role to play in finding school places and helping families access childcare.”

The Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) declined to comment on The Independent’s investigation and would not confirm or deny that policy is being reviewed, but admitted “we know more must be done on homelessness” and said it is “considering all options, including legislation, to prevent more people becoming homeless in the first place.”

A local council has caused a storm of protest on Twitter after adverts depicting homeless people as fraudsters and drug users.

Two bus-stop ads for Nottingham’s ‘#givesmart’ campaign, which launched last week, read: “Begging: Watch your money go to a fraud” and “Begging: Watch your money go up in smoke”. But the messages sparked fury from locals, who called for their removal and said Nottingham City Council bosses should be “ashamed” for authorising the ads.

The adverts aim to encourage people to donate money to homeless charities rather than individuals. A press release on the City Council’s website explains that it was started “because of concerns that money given directly to people who beg is used to feed harmful addictions”.

But the tone of the adverts has sparked anger, with some saying they stigmatised vulnerable people, while others called the message “utterly reprehensible.”

Laura Malarkey took to Twitter to voice her disgust, saying: “Shocking approach from @nottspolice @MyNottigham. The disgusting, ill-informed ads do not frame it as #givesmart, but as don’t give at all.”

While Chinny Honk tweeted: “@MyNottingham You badly need to re-address your #givesmart campaign. It will stigmatise many genuinely destitute, suffering people.”

Drew McGowan also tweeted, saying: “Nottingham City Council’s new #givesmart campaign is utterly reprehensible – shamelessly demonises the homeless.”

City Council leader, Jon Collins, said: “Community Protection and the police are continually taking action against a small number of persistent beggars who can sometimes be aggressive. Many of these individuals appear to be ‘rough sleeping’ when they have already been provided with accommodation and use the money to feed their lifestyle.

“These professional beggars can make up to £800 a day and have in the past waved notes in front of officers.”

In last week’s budget, chancellor George Osborne announced a series of measures to help curb rising levels of homelessness across England, according to a report by Homeless Link.

The Chancellor said (without a hint of irony): “We’re not prepared to let people be left behind. I am also announcing a major new package of support worth over £115 million to support those who are homeless and reduce rough sleeping”. The budget document also promised that further decisions on funding “protections for the supported housing sector” would follow from research currently being undertaken.

The announcement follows years of funding cuts to homeless services and changes to benefits that have disproportionately affected people experiencing or at risk of homelessness. However, only with a strategy that takes into account the full picture of homelessness, and addresses the reasons it happens in the first place, will these new measures make the expected difference for people.

Homeless Link’s Chief Executive, Rick Henderson, said: “The past few years have been a challenge for our members, working with fewer resources in an uncertain funding environment to tackle increasing levels of homelessness. That is why we welcome today’s announcement by the Chancellor. Government leadership and action will be crucial in reversing current trends.

“However, it is essential to view the bigger picture of homelessness. Today’s measures need to be worked into a broad national strategy, with strong partnerships between local services and local and national government.

“Such a strategy needs to take into account the chronic shortage of genuinely affordable accommodation, and ensure that those on benefits are not excluded from it. It needs to ensure that ongoing reform of the benefit system does not put at risk the existence of vital frontline services that support people out of homelessness.

“We look forward to continuing to work closely with our members and the Government to find the best approaches to reducing and ending homelessness in the years to come.”

Staff at local law firm Brabners voted to nominate Crisis as their chosen charity for 2016, as part of their commitment to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).

Although Brabners has a dedicated charity committee to organise fundraising events over the coming year, the task actually began before Christmas when staff raised more than £3,550 to support the Crisis at Christmas campaign.

Events already scheduled include the Charity Challenge, an action-packed weekend of canoeing, cycling and hill climbing in the Lake District, where teams from different companies across the North West compete to finish the course in the fastest time.

There is also the return of ‘The Big Idea’, an apprentice-style contest involving one team from each of the firm’s offices competing against each other to raise money for the charity. Staff will also be encouraged to volunteer and participate in charity collections and events.

Mark Brandwood, managing partner at Brabners, told The Liverpool Echo: “Our CSR programme is thriving – all at Brabners are very keen to support charitable endeavours. We are looking forward to getting involved in a wide range of volunteering and fundraising activities to raise both money and the profile of the charity across the region.”

Kate Farrell, director of Crisis Skylight Merseyside, said: “We would like to thank everyone at Brabners for their generous support and we look forward to working with them throughout the year.”