A Southampton charity for homeless may be forced to close

For more than 25 years the Rainbow Project in Southampton has offered vital help and support to some of the city’s most vulnerable young people.

But the charity could soon be forced to close after council chiefs changed the way they fund services for the homeless.

Due to government guidelines, Southampton City Council has to search for the service that provides the “best value” for the community each year.

Historically the council handed out a contract worth approximately £1.2m to care for homeless young people in the city to the Rainbow Project.

Following instruction from Whitehall, the council must look at sharing the contract out to other organisations and No Limits has been chosen to receive that money for the next 12 months to support vulnerable young people.

Without the guaranteed funding from the council the Rainbow Project will be unable to afford to house young men and women in their homes across the city.

Sue Sharratt has been a member of the charity for 15 years.

She said: “This is totally disgraceful. This is a fantastic organisation that has helped vulnerable young people that have some pretty awful backgrounds.

“This will be a huge loss to the city and to the thousands of young people who have relied on Rainbow and have been helped tremendously over the years.

“I am disgusted that the council can just withdraw funding in such a way that will inevitably see Rainbow close.”

Councillor Ivan White, Cabinet member for adult social care and health, explained that the council is dedicated to providing residents with the best possible care for the best price.

He said: “The Rainbow Project has provided a valuable service and we are sorry to hear of its current difficulties.

“We carried out an open and fair process and unfortunately not all of the organisations, including the Rainbow Project, were successful with all their bids.”