The fight against homelessness in the West Midlands has received a £6,000 boost thanks to the Enterprise Rent-A-Car Foundation.

The money has been donated to the Homelessness Task Force set up by Mayor of the West Midlands Andy Street and will be used to fund its work in designing out homelessness in the region. Jean Templeton, chair of the task force, and who is also chief executive of Birmingham homeless charity St Basil’s, said:

“The task force is a collaboration across all sectors in the West Midlands to use our collective resources and intelligence to prevent homelessness in our region.

“This donation from Enterprise Holdings Foundation will help fund that work to ensure our systems provide support, jobs and accommodation for people at risk of homelessness in the West Midlands.”

Tackling homelessness and rough sleeping was identified as a priority by Mayor of the West Midlands Andy Street on his election in May 2017 and the establishment of the Homelessness Task Force was one of his first actions.

The Task Force has already secured £9.6 million from the Government’s Housing First fund to provide intensive support in accommodation for 675 people at risk of rough sleeping across the West Midlands Combined Authority’s seven constituent member authority areas over the next three years. It also launched the Change into Action campaign with Birmingham City Council, which encourages people to donate to charities and organisations working to reduce homelessness, and has partnered with National Express West Midlands to donate bus tickets for homeless people to access services and support. Curt Craig, vice president of Enterprise Rent-A-Car West Midlands, said:

“Here at Enterprise Rent-A-Car we really pride ourselves in giving back. It is an honour for me that we are involved with the Mayor’s Homelessness Task Force to help improve the lives of those living in the communities in which we operate.”

The Enterprise Rent-A-Car Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the company of the company, also recently provided £3,000 to The Bridge, a hostel provider in Birmingham which works to help people find their feet and get work after being homeless.

For more information on the Homelessness Task Force, visit the WMCA website.