Homeless vaccination scheme to be rolled out further following successful pilot
Urban Village Medical Practice in Ancoats - a facility contracted to deliver healthcare to homeless people - is working with Manchester City Council to get COVID-19 jabs to those in council accommodation.
A pilot scheme launched to get the COVID-19 vaccine to homeless people in Manchester is set to be expanded following a successful pilot phase.
Urban Village Medical Practice in Ancoats – a facility contracted to deliver healthcare to anyone experiencing homelessness – is working with Manchester City Council to administer jabs to those in council accommodation.
The pilot scheme resulted in 81 vaccinations – and is now set to be rolled out to those in temporary accommodation and day centres.
Urban Village will also be using a clinical van to administer jabs around the city, with Cornbrook Medical Centre and Florence House GP also offering vaccinations.
Councillor Bev Craig said that the council was working hard to make sure “no one is left behind or forgotten.”
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Urban Village Medical Practice in Ancoats
We are so pleased that our Homeless Healthcare Team are rolling out our Covid vaccination programme for homeless people in the City following a successful pilot programme! ??#Homeless#COVIDVaccinepic.twitter.com/02Rh3xWdqB
Emma Hicklin, homeless service manager for Urban Village Medical Practice, commented: “People who are homeless are effectively clinically extremely vulnerable and it’s important that they are part of this vaccine rollout.
“It’s a moral imperative to do it if you can. The uptake has been good so far, but you must go to where people are.
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“The people we’re working with are saying the same as you hear from the general public, that if it helps us all get out of lockdown it’s well worth having the vaccination.”
Councillor Craig added: “The vaccine roll-out is providing protection to those who need it the most and to the community.
“Inclusive health is an integral part of our citywide vaccination programme, building on existing trusted relationships that we can use as we expand the opportunity to be vaccinated to everyone who is currently homeless in the city.”
Councillor Zahid Chauhan, Cabinet Member for Health and Social Care, said it was important for the group to be vaccinated because of their added vulnerability.
Around 100,000 people in Manchester have now received the COVID-19 vaccine.
Almost 16 million in total in the UK have received a jab.
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Police are trying to track down the family of a man who died after being found unresponsive outside the Palace Theatre in Manchester.
The man, who has now been named as Jonathan Bernard Carroll, was seen outside the city centre theatre at around 6.30am on Tuesday 12 November.
Emergency services rushed to the scene and Mr Carroll was taken to hospital.
Tragically, the 47-year-old passed away a short time later.
A large cordon was in place on Whitworth Street and Oxford Road while police and security attended the incident.
Greater Manchester Police are now appealing to find his next of kin.
It’s believed that he resided in the Salford area of Greater Manchester.
Anyone with any information should contact the Coroner’s Office on 0161 856 1376.
Greater Manchester public urged to help get people ‘off the streets and on their feet’ before Christmas
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Locals are being urged to help get hundreds of people “off the streets and back on their feet” this festive season.
As the temperatures told colder by the day, and Christmas creeps closer and closer, Greater Manchester Mayor’s Charity is bringing back ‘1000 Beds for Christmas’, and the massively-important initiative is aiming to provide 1,000 nights of accommodation to people at risk of homelessness before the big day arrives.
Forming part of the ongoing ‘A Bed Every Night’ scheme, this festive fundraising mission is designed to provide food, shelter, warmth, and dedicated vital wrap-around support for those who need it most.
The charity says it wants to build on the “incredible success of 2023”, which raised more than £55,000 and provided 1,800 nights of accommodation.
Stockport-based property finance specialists, Together – which has supported the campaign for the last two years – has, once again, generously pledged to match every public donation for the first £20,000 raised.
Unfamiliar with the ‘A Bed Every Night’ scheme? Since 2017, when rough sleeping peaked, the initiative has helped ensure a significantly-higher rate of reduction in the numbers of people facing a night on streets in Greater Manchester than seen nationally.
The landmark scheme has given people the chance to rebuild their lives, while also giving them access to key services and opportunities that allows them to stay off the streets for good.
Despite the scheme’s recent success, organisations across Greater Manchester are under “a huge amount of pressure” to meet the demand for their services this winter, and given the current economic outlook, household budgets will continue to be squeezed – leaving people on the sharp end of inequality and poverty.
The Manc -
18th February 2021 
