#Bristol’s Blueprint for Change: How to Rebuild Homelessness and Mental Health Services from the Ground Up.
Part Two: Why Bristol Must Lead the Way.
(image: BBC)
Bristol’s homelessness crisis demands radical action. While Part One: The Hidden Crisis of Homelessness and Mental Health exposed how the city’s hostel system traumatises vulnerable people with 8 am-10 pm lockouts, this article provides the complete blueprint for what Bristol should build instead—a detailed, evidence-based model proven to work internationally and in UK cities like Manchester and Glasgow.
Haven’t read Part One yet? Start there to understand why Bristol’s current system fails so catastrophically before diving into the solution detailed here.
Walk through Temple Meads station or along Stokes Croft, and you’ll see the human cost of system failure. Rough sleepers outside Cabot Circus. Vulnerable people wandering Bristol city centre during hostel lockout hours. A crisis playing out on the streets while emergency services struggle to respond. Bristol City Council currently spends an estimated £8-12 million annually managing homelessness through temporary accommodation, crisis interventions, and emergency services—yet the crisis deepens.
This isn’t speculation. Every element of this blueprint draws from programmes that have succeeded elsewhere. The question isn’t whether this model works for Bristol. The question is whether Bristol has the political will to implement it.
Foundation One: Housing First Across Bristol—No Exceptions.
Bristol’s rebuilt system begins with a principle that transforms everything: everyone gets housing immediately, without preconditions.
No sobriety requirements. No treatment compliance demands. No “housing readiness” assessments. No waiting until someone has “stabilised.” Housing first, across every Bristol postcode. Everything else follows.
The Bristol Model in Practice:
When someone presents as homeless anywhere in Bristol—whether at the Council’s housing options team, Julian Trust night shelter, or rough sleeping near Temple Meads—the response is immediate. Within 48 hours, they receive keys to self-contained accommodation. Not a hostel bed in St Pauls. Not shared temporary housing in Lawrence Hill. A flat with their own door, kitchen, and bathroom. A space that is theirs, where they can begin to feel safe.
Bristol would establish a housing pool of 500-800 units across the city’s diverse neighbourhoods: Southville, Easton, Bishopston, Bedminster, Fishponds. Scattered-site housing integrated into regular communities works better than concentrated homeless housing projects. This approach avoids creating stigmatised “homeless blocks” while facilitating genuine community integration.
The accommodation standard matters profoundly for Bristol’s most traumatised residents. Trauma-informed design means buildings that don’t trigger institutional memories—natural light, sound insulation, secure locks, space for personal belongings. Ground-floor flats for those with mobility issues or agoraphobia. Properties near Bristol’s extensive bus network for accessible transport. These aren’t luxuries—they’re therapeutic necessities.
The Evidence Base That Bristol Can Trust:
Housing First succeeds where traditional approaches fail. Research from multiple countries shows housing retention rates of 70-90% after two years, even among people with severe mental illness and active addiction. Glasgow’s Housing First pilot, just 350 miles north of Bristol, showed 88% housing sustainment at 12 months. If it works in Glasgow, it can work in Bristol.
Closer to home, Manchester’s Housing First partnership between Greater Manchester Combined Authority and homelessness charities achieved 81% tenancy sustainment rates while reducing emergency service use by 47%. These are UK cities with similar challenges to Bristol—proving the model’s effectiveness in the British context.
The mechanism is straightforward. With stable housing in Bedminster or Easton, people can finally rest. Sleep patterns improve, reducing psychotic symptoms and mood instability. They can store medication safely in their Bristol flat and take it consistently. They have a BS postcode address for benefit claims and job applications. They can form relationships with support workers who know where to find them. The chaos that makes everything else impossible begins to settle.
A University of York study found that providing housing with support to rough sleepers in England achieved cost savings of £4,298 per person per year through reduced use of emergency services, police time, and criminal justice costs. For Bristol, housing 700 people would generate approximately £3 million in annual savings—money currently spent on A&E visits at Bristol Royal Infirmary, police callouts across Bristol city centre, and court appearances at Bristol Magistrates’ Court.
What Housing First Doesn’t Mean for Bristol:
Housing First isn’t “housing only.” It’s housing as the essential platform for intensive, wraparound support coordinated across Bristol’s services. Which brings us to the second foundation.
Foundation Two: Integrated Mental Health Teams Serving Every Bristol Neighbourhood.
The moment someone receives housing in Southmead or Knowle, a multidisciplinary support team begins working with them. Not waiting for the person to navigate Bristol’s fragmented services. Not requiring them to travel across the city for appointments at different agencies. The team comes to them, wherever they live in Bristol.
The Bristol Team Model:
Each individual is assigned a core team, including:
A primary support worker based in their Bristol neighbourhood who serves as the consistent relationship anchor. This worker visits multiple times weekly initially, helping with practical tasks—setting up utilities, registering with a Bristol GP, navigating bus routes—while building trust. They become the secure attachment figure the person’s inner child needs.
A clinical psychologist or therapist from Bristol’s mental health services, specialising in trauma and attachment. They provide evidence-based interventions: trauma-focused CBT, EMDR for PTSD, and mentalisation-based therapy for personality disorders. The therapy happens in the person’s Easton or Clifton flat initially, if needed, recognising that trust must be built before someone can sit in a clinical office.
A psychiatric nurse or psychiatrist from Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust (AWP), providing medication management, symptom monitoring, and crisis support. They work collaboratively with the individual, explaining medication options rather than imposing treatment.
An addiction specialist, when needed, offering medication-assisted treatment through Bristol’s substance misuse services, harm reduction support, and pathways to abstinence for those who choose it. Crucially, active addiction doesn’t disqualify someone from housing in Bedminster or trigger eviction from their St Pauls flat. The addiction is treated as a symptom requiring compassion, not a character flaw requiring punishment.
A peer support worker with lived experience of Bristol’s homelessness system—someone who’s slept rough near Bristol Temple Meads, cycled through hostels in St Pauls, knows the reality of 8 am lockouts. They provide hope through example, practical wisdom about surviving Bristol’s services, and an authentic understanding that professionals cannot fully replicate.
An occupational therapist helping rebuild life skills that trauma and homelessness eroded: cooking, budgeting, using Bristol’s bus network, self-care routines, and navigating Bristol’s benefits system. They work at the individual’s pace, celebrating small victories.
Team Integration Across Bristol:
These professionals don’t work in silos across Bristol’s fragmented system. They collaborate daily. Weekly team meetings at hubs in central Bristol discuss each person’s progress, challenges, and evolving needs. Information is shared (with consent) so everyone works from the same understanding. When crisis emerges—whether in Hartcliffe or Horfield—the team responds collectively rather than passing responsibility between Bristol City Council, AWP NHS Trust, and voluntary sector agencies.
This integration addresses Bristol’s current system’s greatest failure. Someone might have a housing officer at Bristol City Council, a community mental health team appointment in Southmead Hospital, an addiction counsellor in St Pauls, and a benefits advisor at Citizens Advice Bristol—none of whom communicate effectively. Appointments conflict across Bristol’s geography. Information gets lost between agencies. The person must tell their traumatic story repeatedly to strangers across the city. They fall through the gaps between Bristol’s services.
The integrated Bristol team eliminates gaps. One story, told once to trusted people who understand Bristol’s context, shared appropriately across the team. Coordinated support that wraps around the individual, whether they’re in Knowle or Kingswood.
Bristol-Specific Trauma-Informed Practice:
Every Bristol team member receives extensive training in trauma-informed care, understanding Bristol’s specific context—the particular trauma of sleeping rough during Bristol’s wet winters, the shame of hostel lockouts forcing people to the streets during Bristol’s bustling daytime economy, the fear of being moved between temporary accommodation across Bristol’s different areas.
They learn that missed appointments might reflect anxiety about travelling across Bristol while paranoid, or dissociation triggered by walking past the doorway where someone slept rough for months. That aggression often masks terror learned on Bristol’s streets. That non-compliance with treatment usually means the treatment doesn’t feel safe yet.
When someone in Easton decompensates or someone in Southville relapses, the response isn’t eviction from their Bristol flat or service withdrawal—it’s increased support. The inner child is acting out because they don’t feel safe; the answer is more safety in their Bristol home, not more abandonment onto Bristol’s streets.
Foundation Three: Healing Bristol’s Wounded Inner Children.
The rebuilt Bristol system explicitly recognises that homelessness in this city represents profound attachment trauma requiring specific therapeutic responses. Walking Bristol’s streets in winter traumatises. Eight-hour lockouts from hostels near St Pauls retraumatise. Traditional Bristol mental health services focus on symptom reduction. This is necessary but insufficient. True recovery requires healing the wounded inner child.
Creating a Secure Base in Bristol:
For adults whose childhoods lacked secure attachment, and whose Bristol homelessness experience retraumatised them, recovery means finally experiencing consistency. The primary support worker in their Bristol neighbourhood embodies this secure base. They show up consistently at the person’s Bedminster flat, week after week, month after month, through Bristol’s seasons. They don’t judge. They don’t abandon when the person struggles. They demonstrate through action that this person matters in Bristol, deserves care, and won’t be left behind on Bristol’s streets.
Reparenting Work in Bristol Context:
Skilled Bristol therapists engage in explicit reparenting—providing what the person’s childhood lacked. For someone whose parents were neglectful, abusive, or absent, and whose years sleeping rough near Temple Meads reinforced those childhood wounds, this therapeutic reparenting can be transformative. The work happens in their Bristol flat, at their pace, respecting their history with Bristol’s failed systems.
Safe Space for Regression:
The person’s Bristol flat provides private space where they can fall apart without shame—without being locked out at 8 am, without Bristol’s crowds witnessing their breakdown, without losing their accommodation. Bristol support workers understand that periods of regression often precede psychological growth.
Foundation Four: Economic and Social Inclusion Across Bristol.
Housing and mental health care create stability in someone’s Southmead or St George flat. But genuine recovery in Bristol requires meaning, purpose, and economic security woven into Bristol’s economy and communities.
Bristol-Specific Pathways:
Each individual works with an employment specialist who knows Bristol’s job market, training providers, and opportunities. Options include:
Education at Bristol’s institutions - City of Bristol College vocational courses, University of Bristol access programmes, adult education at community centres across Easton, Bedminster, and Southville.
Volunteer work at Bristol organisations - Feeding the homeless at St Nick’s Church, gardening at Bristol’s community gardens, supporting Bristol Animal Rescue Centre. These provide structure and purpose while building confidence.
Supported employment with Bristol employers - Job coaches help navigate Bristol workplaces, working with understanding Bristol businesses in hospitality, retail, and services sectors.
Bristol social enterprises - Change Please coffee carts in Bristol city centre, Bristol Waste Company’s inclusive employment, social enterprises in St Werburgh’s offering understanding work environments.
Creative activities at Bristol venues - Art therapy at Arnolfini, music programmes at Bristol Beacon, gardening at Create Centre in Smeaton Road, and therapeutic activities that provide meaning while supporting mental health.
Financial Security in Bristol:
The system ensures adequate income through benefits advocacy helping people navigate Bristol City Council’s systems, debt advice addressing crisis-debt from Bristol loan sharks and payday lenders, budgeting support that acknowledges Bristol’s cost of living, and access to affordable credit through Bristol Credit Union.
Bristol Community Connection:
Isolation worsens mental illness. The rebuilt Bristol system actively facilitates connection through:
Bristol community spaces - Drop-in centres in St Pauls, Easton, and Southmead offering meals, activities, and companionship without conditional hospitality that current Bristol services require.
Group programmes across Bristol - Cooking classes at community centres, football teams in Bristol’s parks, book groups at Bristol Central Library, recovery groups throughout the city.
Befriending schemes with Bristolians - Matching individuals with Bristol volunteers for cinema trips to Showcase or Everyman, coffee at Boston Tea Party, walks through Ashton Court or the Downs—normal Bristol experiences that combat isolation.
Family reconnection - Many Bristol homeless people have families in surrounding areas: Bath, Weston-super-Mare, South Gloucestershire. Skilled workers can sometimes facilitate healing and reconnection.
Foundation Five: Bristol System Infrastructure and Funding
A rebuilt system requires Bristol-specific infrastructure to sustain it.
Bristol Governance:
Bristol would establish a single agency—Bristol Housing & Mental Health Integration (BHMHI)—with responsibility for all homelessness and mental health services. No more splits between Bristol City Council housing department, AWP NHS Trust mental health services, Bristol Drugs Project, and voluntary sector providers like St Mungo’s Bristol and Caring in Bristol. One organisation, properly funded, with clear accountability to Bristol residents.
This Bristol agency employs all the multidisciplinary teams, owns or leases the housing across Bristol postcodes, contracts specialist Bristol services, and coordinates with Bristol Royal Infirmary, Avon and Somerset Police, and Bristol social services.
Bristol Funding Model:
Initial Bristol funding sources include:
Redirecting Bristol City Council’s current emergency accommodation spending (estimated £8-12 million annually)
Pooling AWP mental health, Bristol Integrated Care Board, criminal justice, and housing budgets currently spent on crisis management
Bristol Mayoral commitment to homelessness as a priority health investment
Social impact bonds where investors fund Bristol programmes with returns tied to reduced public service costs
Bristol City Council currently spends millions on temporary accommodation and crisis responses. The Julian Trust, St Mungo’s Bristol, and other Bristol charities piece together fragmented funding. Redirecting these Bristol resources into the rebuilt system is fiscally responsible for Bristol taxpayers.
Bristol Workforce Development:
The Bristol system requires skilled, committed staff who understand Bristol’s specific context:
Competitive salaries attracting talent to Bristol (acknowledging Bristol’s high cost of living)
Training in trauma-informed practice and understanding Bristol’s homelessness landscape
Manageable caseloads allowing meaningful relationships across Bristol’s geography
Clinical supervision and staff wellbeing support preventing burnout in Bristol’s challenging work
Career pathways retaining experienced Bristol staff
Valuing lived experience, employing peer workers who’ve experienced Bristol’s streets and hostels
Bristol Housing Supply:
Housing First requires Bristol housing. The city faces a housing shortage affecting everyone. The rebuilt system needs:
Long-term leases from Bristol private landlords
Bristol City Council social housing prioritisation for Housing First clients
Purpose-built housing in Bristol incorporating trauma-informed design
Partnerships with Bristol housing associations like Knightstone and Curo
Potentially, BHMHI developing its own housing stock across Bristol
With approximately 500-800 people experiencing homelessness in Bristol at any given time, the housing requirement is achievable within Bristol’s existing housing stock and development pipeline.
Bristol Data and Evaluation:
The rebuilt Bristol system tracks outcomes rigorously, publishing quarterly reports to Bristol residents demonstrating effectiveness, justifying continued investment from Bristol taxpayers, and allowing continuous improvement. Transparent reporting builds public support across Bristol’s diverse communities.
Foundation Six: Prevention Across Bristol
While crisis response requires rebuilding, preventing homelessness across Bristol in the first place is equally crucial:
Bristol Upstream Prevention:
Tenancy sustainment teams intervening when Bristol residents risk eviction
Mental health crisis support preventing Bristol hospital discharge into homelessness
Prison release planning from HMP Bristol ensuring housing upon release
Bristol domestic violence refuges with mental health support
Youth services in Bristol preventing care leavers from Bristol City Council becoming homeless
Debt crisis support preventing housing loss across Bristol
Bristol Early Intervention:
Rapid rehousing for people newly homeless in Bristol (within days)
Immediate mental health assessment through AWP services
Family mediation when relationship breakdown causes homelessness in Bristol families
Flexible financial assistance through Bristol City Council preventing evictions
Prevention saves Bristol money. Every Bristol resident kept housed saves thousands in crisis costs to Bristol services. The rebuilt system invests heavily in prevention, recognising that Housing First shouldn’t be needed if Bristol’s upstream systems work properly.
The Bristol Implementation Roadmap
How does Bristol move from its current failure to rebuild success?
Phase One (Months 1-12): Building Bristol’s Foundation
Establish BHMHI as Bristol’s governing agency
Secure initial Bristol housing (100-150 units across Bristol postcodes)
Recruit and train multidisciplinary teams familiar with Bristol
Develop Bristol-specific protocols
Engage with Bristol’s current homeless population
Launch pilot in Bristol city centre and St Pauls (150-200 people)
Phase Two (Year 2): Scaling Across Bristol
Expand to 300-400 units across all Bristol areas
Refine team processes based on Bristol learning
Develop prevention services at Bristol City Council
Build partnerships with Bristol Royal Infirmary, Southmead Hospital, Avon and Somerset Police
Begin tracking Bristol outcome data
Phase Three (Year 3-5): Full Bristol Implementation
Achieve coverage for all homeless individuals across Bristol
Close emergency hostels in St Pauls and other Bristol areas as people move to Housing First
Demonstrate cost savings to Bristol City Council and NHS Bristol
Share Bristol’s learning with other UK cities
Sustain and refine the Bristol model
Bristol Success Factors:
Bristol City Council and the Bristol Mayor are committed through electoral cycles
Bristol community engagement preventing NIMBY opposition in Clifton, Redland, and other areas
Bristol media strategy through the Bristol Post, BBC Radio Bristol
Protection from ideological attacks claiming it “rewards bad behaviour”
Sustained funding from the Bristol budget through implementation
Flexibility to adapt based on Bristol-specific learning
Bristol FAQs: Your Questions Answered
Will this work in Bristol specifically?
Yes. Bristol’s size (population 472,000), existing infrastructure, strong voluntary sector, and progressive political culture make it ideal for Housing First. Manchester and Glasgow, similar UK cities, have proven the model. Bristol has everything needed: housing stock, skilled workforce, NHS mental health services, strong charities. What’s lacking is the political will to coordinate these Bristol resources effectively.
How much will this cost Bristol taxpayers?
Bristol City Council currently spends an estimated £8-12 million annually managing homelessness through temporary accommodation. AWP NHS Trust spends millions more on mental health crisis care for homeless Bristol residents. Avon and Somerset Police spend significant resources managing mental health crises in Bristol. The rebuilt system redirects these existing Bristol expenditures more effectively, achieving cost neutrality within 2-3 years while dramatically improving outcomes.
Where will Bristol find 500-800 homes?
Bristol has approximately 200,000 homes. Finding 500-800 (0.3-0.4% of housing stock) is achievable through: long-term private rental agreements with Bristol landlords, Bristol City Council social housing prioritisation, new affordable housing developments in Bristol’s ongoing construction projects, partnerships with Bristol housing associations, and potentially purpose-built Housing First accommodation. It requires prioritisation within Bristol’s existing housing efforts, not impossible expansion.
Won’t this attract homeless people to Bristol from other areas?
Evidence from Housing First programmes shows negligible migration effects. People generally prefer staying in familiar areas. Moreover, even if some migration to Bristol occurred, the cost-effectiveness means Bristol still saves money while treating more people humanely. Bristol’s current approach attracts nobody and helps nobody—the rebuilt system would be an improvement regardless.
What about Bristol’s existing homeless charities?
Bristol’s excellent voluntary sector—Julian Trust, Caring in Bristol, St Mungo’s Bristol, Bristol Soup Run Network, and others—would remain vital partners. Rather than duplicating crisis services, they’d work within the integrated Bristol system, bringing their expertise, relationships, and Bristol knowledge to Housing First implementation. Their staff know Bristol’s homeless population better than anyone.
How will Bristol handle people who refuse housing?
Research shows 95%+ of homeless people accept Housing First housing when offered without conditions. The tiny percentage who initially decline usually accept after trust builds. For the rare person who genuinely prefers rough sleeping, Bristol would continue outreach, offer support without housing conditions, and keep the housing offer open. Their existence doesn’t justify denying housing to the 95% who would immediately accept it.
What about Bristol residents who will object?
Community engagement is crucial. Bristol residents need to understand: (1) Housing First costs less than current crisis management, (2) scattered-site housing means no concentrated “homeless blocks” in any Bristol neighbourhood, (3) support services mean neighbours won’t experience problems, (4) Bristol’s current approach isn’t working—rough sleeping is visible across the city, (5) this is proven in UK cities like Manchester and Glasgow. Most Bristol residents, when presented with evidence and reassurance, support housing homeless people humanely.
How long before Bristol sees results?
Housing First programmes typically show: immediate reduction in rough sleeping (within months), measurable mental health improvements (within 6-12 months), reduced emergency service use (within 12-18 months), cost savings (within 2-3 years), and long-term housing stability (70-90% at 2+ years). Bristol could have rough sleeping virtually eliminated within 18-24 months of full implementation.
Who in Bristol is responsible for making this happen?
Bristol City Council, led by the Bristol Mayor, has primary responsibility. But success requires: AWP NHS Trust committing mental health resources, Bristol Integrated Care Board coordinating health funding, Avon and Somerset Police supporting rather than opposing, Bristol MPs advocating for national government support, and Bristol residents demanding change through elections, consultations, and public pressure. This is Bristol’s collective responsibility.
Bristol’s Vision: Five Years from Now
Imagine Bristol in 2030:
Zero rough sleeping in Temple Meads, Cabot Circus, or anywhere across the city. The doorways and underpasses currently occupied are empty because everyone has a Bristol flat with their own front door.
Hostels in St Pauls converted to better uses—affordable housing, community centres, services that support rather than traumatise. The 8am-10pm lockout is a shameful memory Bristol acknowledges and learns from.
700+ people who were homeless are now stably housed across Bristol’s neighbourhoods—Southville, Easton, Bedminster, Fishponds, Hartcliffe. Their children are attending Bristol schools. Shopping at Bristol markets. Riding Bristol buses to therapy appointments, jobs, and training courses. Living normal Bristol lives.
Bristol Royal Infirmary and Southmead Hospital A&E departments seeing 50% fewer mental health crisis presentations from homeless people. Avon and Somerset Police spending significantly less time managing street homelessness in Bristol. Bristol City Council spending similar money but achieving vastly better outcomes.
A workforce of trauma-informed Bristol professionals—support workers, therapists, peer workers, housing specialists—changing lives daily. Bristol’s model studied by other UK cities trying to learn from Bristol’s success.
Bristol residents proud of their city’s compassionate, evidence-based approach. Visitors remarking on Bristol’s apparent lack of rough sleeping compared to other UK cities.
Former rough sleepers working as peer support workers, helping others navigate the system they once endured. Inner children finally experiencing safety, consistency, and care. Lives rebuilt from the bottom up.
This isn’t fantasy. This is what Bristol could achieve with political will and proper implementation.
Or Bristol could continue as now. People sleeping in Temple Meads doorways. Hostels locking out vulnerable individuals for 14 hours daily near St Pauls. Mental illness worsening untreated across the city. Millions of Bristol taxpayer money spent on crisis management. Lives lost to preventable despair on Bristol’s streets.
The choice is Bristol’s.
Take Action in Bristol
Contact Bristol Decision-Makers:
Bristol City Council: Write to your Bristol councillor demanding Housing First. Contact details at bristol.gov.uk/councillors
Bristol Mayor: Email the Mayor’s office requesting Bristol adopt this blueprint
Bristol MPs: Kerry McCarthy (Bristol East), Carla Denyer (Bristol Central), Thangam Debbonaire (Bristol West), Karin Smyth (Bristol South), and Darren Jones (Bristol North West) all represent Bristol in Parliament
AWP NHS Trust: Contact the Trust Board requesting integrated housing and mental health services for Bristol
Support Bristol Organisations Moving This Direction:
St Mungo’s Bristol: Already provides housing and support; advocate for Housing First expansion
Caring in Bristol: Community-based mental health support; champion their integration work
Julian Trust: Night shelter and support services; support their evolution toward Housing First
Bristol Drugs Project: Harm reduction and treatment; advocate for integration into housing support
Crisis UK (Bristol branch): National charity with Bristol presence; support their Housing First advocacy
Bristol Community Action:
Share this blueprint at Bristol community meetings, neighbourhood forums, and Bristol social media groups
Write to Bristol Post and BBC Radio Bristol about Housing First evidence
Attend Bristol City Council consultations on homelessness policy
Join Bristol homelessness charities as volunteer or donor
Vote for Bristol politicians committed to evidence-based approaches
Challenge narratives that blame homeless people rather than failed Bristol systems
For Bristol Professionals:
If you work in Bristol’s housing, health, or social care sectors, advocate within your organisation for Housing First principles
Share this blueprint with Bristol colleagues and managers
Request trauma-informed practice training for your Bristol team
Push for better integration between Bristol services
Refuse to accept “we’ve always done it this way” when Bristol’s current approach demonstrably fails
The rebuilt system won’t emerge without political pressure from Bristol residents. Those of us with safe housing in Clifton, Redland, Southville, Bedminster—anywhere in Bristol—have a responsibility to advocate for those sleeping rough in our city.
Bristol can lead the way. Bristol can prove that UK cities can end homelessness. Bristol can demonstrate that Housing First works in the British context.
Bristol’s homeless residents are waiting. Their inner children are still waiting for someone to say, “You’re safe now, you matter, we’ve got you.”
Bristol can be that voice. Bristol must be that voice.
The blueprint exists. The funding is achievable within Bristol’s budget. The outcomes are proven in UK cities.
Now Bristol must build it.
Bristol-Specific Resources:
Bristol City Council Homelessness Services: bristol.gov.uk/housing/homelessness
St Mungo’s Bristol: mungos.org/our-services/bristol
Caring in Bristol: caringinbristol.org
Julian Trust: juliantrust.org.uk
Bristol Drugs Project: bdp.org.uk
AWP NHS Trust Mental Health Services: awp.nhs.uk
Bristol Housing Support: bristolhousingfestival.org.uk
Crisis UK: crisis.org.uk (search Housing First evidence)
Homeless Link: homeless.org.uk (trauma-informed guidance)
For immediate help in Bristol:
Bristol City Council Housing Options: 0117 922 2700
Julian Trust Night Shelter: 0117 955 1131
St Mungo’s Bristol Outreach: 0117 929 2369
Bristol Mental Health Crisis Line: 0800 953 0285
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