Petrus meet with Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester
Denis Skelton, Head of Petrus and Sonia Denham, Deputy Head of Petrus attended a very positive meeting this week with Andy Burnham, the Mayor of Greater Manchester, and colleagues from Greater Manchester Citizens, who represent a range of institutions and communities.
GM Citizens are working with Andy Burnham on four key areas, which are:
- Housing and homelessness
- Social care
- Hate crime
- Living wage.
Denis and Sonia spoke to Andy Burnham about the progress being made on the Housing First Entrenched Rough Sleepers Social Investment Bond initiative. This programme is part of a wider approach to tackle homelessness in the region, which Andy Burnham has pledged to eradicate.
It was agreed that great progress has been made over the last year since Andy Burnham was elected Mayor, and that more still needs to be done.
More work needs to be done to help people sustain tenancies once they are rehoused. This includes housing and health providers working in together, and coordinating and harnessing support from many individuals and groups across the region who wish to help people sleeping rough.
Andy Burnham was interested to hear about the range of activities and services provided by the Petrus Community across the boroughs of Rochdale and Oldham, and will hopefully visit Petrus in the future to learn more about the work it does and the people involved.