Youth

Step by Step

Step by Step is a youth homelessness charity that has been working since 1990.

Cooking lesson in action

Step by Step provides housing for around 400 young people and support around 1,500 more young people facing hard times. They work throughout Dorset, Wiltshire, Berkshire, Hampshire, Surrey and west Sussex. 

The charity has a range of wraparound support via its counselling, advice, information and mediation service. We were happy to support Step by Step as they made a clear, sensible case for support. They were able to demonstrate an increase in youth homelessness in their region of 40% in five years. They also showed that, because of budget cuts, many local authorities are only able to offer very limited support. This excludes around 60% of vulnerable young people from accessing homelessness services. Expecting increased demand, worsened by the pandemic, Step by Step developed new services to address mental health challenges, addiction and family mediation.  

The grant from the Garfield Weston Foundation has made a huge difference to our work. We have been able to expand the team, including specialist support workers, to give the young people in our community the support they need to overcome a wide range of barriers. These young people now have a solid foundation from which to plan for their future and realise their potential.

Step by Step had worked hard to diversify their income sources, which means they are not overly reliant on any one source of funding. We expect more young people across the UK to face housing challenges due to the pandemic and cost of living increase. We were happy to make a grant to support Step by Step’s work.  

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