London Youth Gateway (LYG) (360G-LondonCouncils-04)

New Horizon Youth Centre is leading the London Youth Gateway (LYG) project, which is being delivered in partnership with the Albert Kennedy Trust, Depaul UK, Galop, Praxis, Shelter and Stonewall Housing. LYG makes sure that young Londoners facing homelessness are safe and supported while we help them to achieve long-term stability in terms of housing, income, health and migration status. The LYG targets young people more likely to face homelessness but less likely to find the help they need, for whom boroughs do not have a main homelessness duty and/or for whom it is not cost-effective to commission local services. The LYG offers a genuinely pan-London service, supporting young people through brief interventions or long-term support via in-person and remote delivery. Project activities include: young people can self-refer via an online referral form and free telephone line and are seamlessly linked to the most appropriate LYG partner or external agency, running a specialist LGBTQ+ entry point and a dedicated under-25s advice line for young people requiring help with landlord or tenancy problems, enabling delivery of crucial interventions and support at scale, young people receive clear information, advice and advocacy to prevent homelessness, navigate complex systems, and/or access mainstream services, an integrated, youth-specific package to young people needing longer-term support to access or sustain accommodation, especially where boroughs do not have a statutory duty, including: long-term housing advice/casework/advocacy, comprehensive physical and mental health services, life skills development and independent living skills, employability support, income maximisation and benefits support and specialist immigration advice. Responsive to London’s diversity, the LYG tailors is services to young people most vulnerable to homelessness, including young people from minoritised communities, LGBTQ+ young people, young women, neurodiverse young people and those with no recourse to public funds.