A Cambridge Homelessness Partnership
In light of Coronavirus, It Takes a City is working with a range or partners in Cambridge to help deliver various outcomes. These will:
Actions of ITAC include:
It Takes a City – A Cambridge Homelessness Partnership - provides a framework and mechanism to enable the city to unite and take action to end rough sleeping in the city due to homelessness.
It Takes a City was established in 2019 in response to the Cambridge Summit on Homelessness, held in November 2018.
We believe no one agency or authority can tackle the problem of homelessness on their own. It Takes a City is both a generous offer to the authorities and existing agencies from the wider community, and a way that the wider community can work in partnership at all levels with the authorities, existing agencies and those with lived experience of homelessness to co-produce solutions which lead to sustained change.
It Takes a City brings together those with lived experience, managers and front-line workers, members of faith communities, public sector officials, business owners and managers, teachers, academics, students and concerned individuals.
Cambridge is a city on the world stage that has invented, solved, inspired and delivered huge change to humankind. We believe the city possesses what is needed – ideas, imagination, intelligence, expertise, wealth and humanity. Everyone in Cambridge can be part of radical, lasting solutions, and feel good about it.
To end rough sleeping in Cambridge due to homelessness, making sure everyone has somewhere to call home, with the support they need.
We want to unite Cambridge to collaborate and harness resources; leading to lasting change. To do this, we follow two guiding principles:
We believe that everyone living in Cambridge should have:
Solutions are designed within Action Groups bringing together all with a shared interest in a different outcome. Solutions are delivered by Action Group members, funded by various means.
Each of the Action Groups focus on a specific issue which affects people experiencing homelessness in Cambridge. Each group develops its own collaborative actions to tackle that issue, with the following core values:
The action group themes are:
It Takes a City (Cambridge) is a new charitable company set up to support, facilitate and coordinate the Action Groups, communicate and liaise on behalf of the partnership, and raise the funds needed to deliver the solutions.
The It Takes a City website – itacinfo@ittakesacity.org.uk – Twitter @ittakesacity – and Linked-in are some of the ways the work of the Action Groups and the funding needs are communicated by It Takes a City (Cambridge).
Our Coordinator, a part-time paid role, manages our communications, reaches out to the wider community and coordinates the reporting from the Action Groups. We fund the work of the Street Support Cambridge Action Group, provide insurance and banking as needed, and hold funds to support training and development across all Action Groups.
We acknowledge with grateful thanks the financial and other support from local businesses, charitable trusts and Cambridge City Council that has made this possible.
If you want to be part of It Takes a City, or to find out more: