CONNECT Manchester

Location:

Cathedral Approach, Manchester M1 1AD, UK

CONNECT Manchester is a coming together of four organisations, committed to working in partnership with Manchester City Council to end homelessness.

About CONNECT Manchester

We have developed services that combine our strengths to support vulnerable people in the city of Manchester, achieving greater outcomes with the people we work with, and to meet the strategic aims of Manchester’s Homelessness Strategy.
Delivering against a joint vision to connect with people and places, we aim to build thriving neighbourhoods and communities through the provision of housing and other supportive services.

Our service model

Our service model is based on the belief that everyone has the ability to realise their potential, achieve greater things in life, and contribute towards their own and others’ wellbeing.

We have co-produced a service model that enables people to develop that potential, building upon personal and community assets and developing their resilience to prevent homelessness and the need for statutory interventions.

Our accommodation

What we offer

We provide short-term accommodation and support for people who are facing significant challenges and barriers to securing a stable place to live. We help them to tackle the root causes of the issues affecting their lives, while also helping to develop their confidence and skills to move on to independent living.

The accommodation we provide includes a mix of one-bedroom dispersed, shared, and self-contained units, located across Manchester city. As part of this support package, we offer personalised services that focus on a person’s strengths, supporting them in a wide range of areas. These include:

help to access sustainable accommodation;
learning skills in budgeting, paying bills, managing debt, and dealing with paperwork;
support accessing employment, training, education and voluntary work
help to pursue personal interests; and
signposting to specialist services, such as substance misuse, mental health, or domestic violence services.

Our locations

We have 163 units of shared and self-contained accommodation across the city:

Wilson Carlise House
Discovery House
Endeavour House
Independence House
Marian Parker House
Victoria House
Longden House
Stanley Road
Middleton Road
Crumpsall Lane

Our single service provides a coordinated offer, to adults in need of temporary housing and support in Manchester.

Our approach

We work with people aged 18+, who are homeless or are experiencing a housing related crisis and need short-term housing related support.

Our approach involves assessing the individual’s needs, and ensuring they receive the support and guidance they require. This goes beyond simply providing a roof for them to sleep under.

We work with a range of people who face difficult situations, these include:

Adults who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless, including people leaving prison and people who may be sleeping rough.
People with a range of medium to high support needs who are not currently able to maintain independent living and for whom other housing options, including floating support, would not be appropriate.
Homeless couples and for individuals who have pets.
An individual’s health and wellbeing are also essential factors we consider as part of the support we give.

We do not believe in a ‘one size fits all’ approach

By tailoring the provision and resource around the individual’s needs, we move away from a segmented approach and create a community of support.

CONNECT Manchester currently has established relationships with existing communities, key stakeholders, and specialist services. Over the past year these relationships have helped us to work with 186 people with medium and complex needs.

Our partnership

The Riverside Group

The Riverside Group was established over 90 years ago and we have grown to become a major provider of affordable housing, and care and support services in England and Scotland, with more than 75,000 homes in management. Operating at scale across around 175 local authorities, our vision is to transform the lives of the 140,000+ people we house and revitalise the neighbourhoods in which they live.

Wilson Carlisle House brings over 50 years of supported housing experience to the CONNECT Manchester partnership, working with, and supporting homeless men to achieve their goals and to move on into permanent accommodation. We are committed to continuing our successful and forward-thinking partnership with CONNECT Manchester.

Visit The Riverside Group website to learn more.

Sanctuary Supported Living

Sanctuary Supported Living is a not-for-profit organisation, delivering a wide range of supported housing and retirement communities, alongside tailored care and support services, to people across England. We have over 650 supported housing services across England, where our amazing teams provide the care and support that our customers need.

Working in close partnership with the people we support, their families, carers and health professionals, we deliver high quality services that support people on their unique pathways for independence. Victoria House is part of the CONNECT Manchester service which provides accommodation to adults that are homeless, experiencing housing related crisis or are in need of temporary housing and support. Staff draw up a personalised support plan with residents using the Home Star model, to help them achieve their aims and goals.

Our highly-trained staff are on-site 24 hours a day, seven days a week, giving residents peace of mind that support is always on-hand. There is an overnight concierge service seven days a week and an out-of-hours telephone service, should residents require any further support.

Visit the Sanctuary Supported Living website to learn more.

The Salvation Army

The Salvation Army operates over 80 supported accommodation services across the UK and the Republic of Ireland. We call these services ‘Lifehouses’ because they are more than a place to stay. They are places where people can get support with their housing issues – but also find support with other aspects of their lives such as employment, debt problems, training, spirituality, loneliness, addiction or mental health.

The Salvation Army Manchester Homelessness Services provide support for 40 people over three Houses: Discovery House, Independence House, and Endeavour House.

These small Lifehouses are furnished in a modern homely way and therefore provide a friendly and inclusive atmosphere where everyone is valued and treated with kindness and respect. Our excellently trained staff are Working in a Psychologically informed way the service provision comprises of a key worker system with individual support, advice and information being offered. The Salvation Army also provide a specialist support and engagement worker to help clients have their voices heard and be co-productive within CONNECT Manchester.

Visit the Salvation Army website to learn more.

Impact and benefits of the CONNECT Manchester partnership

The success of the CONNECT Manchester partnership is based on preventing and reducing the number of times people present as homeless. We achieve this by enabling individuals to secure a home and by giving them the support and resources they need to self-manage once they have moved on.

Through the partnership of Nacro, Sanctuary Supported Living, The Riverside Group, Manchester City Council, and The Salvation Army, we achieve a greater reach across the city.

Our impact 2022-2023

312

individuals were supported from 1 April 2022 – 31 March 2023
91

This is an increase of 91% based on our usual capacity

Learn more about our work and impact

To learn more about the impact we have, the individuals we support and the services we offer, download our 2022 – 2023 impact report.

Eligibility

We support any person aged 18 and over, single people and couples, who are homeless, or at risk of homelessness. This includes people leaving prison and people who may be sleeping rough. We also provide specialist support services for women, men, couples and people with pets.

Partners and funders

How to refer

We support any person aged 18 or over, single people and couples, who are homeless, or at risk of homelessness. This includes people leaving prison and people who may be sleeping rough.

We also provide specialist support services for women, men, couples, and people with pets. To make a referral you will need to access the MAS Gateway to submit your details.

To gain access to the Gateway, please email Manchester City Council’s MAS Gateway Team

Please do not send referrals to the email address provided.

For general enquires call 0161 371 5363.