A NEW initiative is seeking support to get homeless people off the streets and into safety.

Homelessness charity The Wallich has announced it is working together with Newport Now BID and fellow charity Eden Gate to create a new homelessness fund for Newport.

Called Street SupPORT, it will involve contactless donation points being added to business’ windows across the city.

Residents are encouraged to tap their contactless card on the window to provide a £3 donation to the fund. A text-donate code and JustGiving page are also available.

Presently, the Wallich centre is only open for two hours a day. It is hoped the new fund will allow it to be open for longer, giving vulnerable people a place to go, helping them to pursue a route out of homelessness.

Funds will also be used to expand emergency provision run by Eden Gate. The organisation currently offers a winter night shelter in different churches on a rotation system from November to March.

It is hoped the Street SupPORT fund will help expand this emergency provision beyond the winter months, in a new single venue.

It comes as Welsh Government figures suggest rough sleeping has increased by 30 per cent in Wales over the past year.

Using the contactless donation points in shop windows will help rough sleepers get the support they need, with the Street SupPORT fund used to expand and sustain existing homelessness services in the city.

The project was revealed at the opening of a new Wallich drop-in centre, which the Argus reported on yesterday.

As part of the scheme, a Newport Homelessness Action Week will take place in October. The community will be encouraged to get involved, learn more about this complex issue and take action to help vulnerable people in Newport.

Lindsay Cordery-Bruce, chief executive of The Wallich, said: “It’s vital that we continue to come up with innovative new solutions and make sure that the good work already happening can continue.

“We’ve all got a collective, community responsibility to help people in need. Street SupPORTis a prime example of a partnership approach with tangible, practical benefits.

“We really hope the community of Newport will get behind it.”

Kevin Ward, Newport Now BID manager, said: “Unlike giving money to individuals in the street, anyone donating to this new fund can have absolute certainty their money will be used to improve two vital projects.

“This is not about businesses saying ‘don’t give to people who beg’. It’s about giving people an alternative method of donation to a fund that will be ring-fenced to provide help for those who need help the most in our city centre.”

He added: “Homelessness is not a problem unique to Newport and there are no easy solutions to what has become one of the major social issues of our time.

“The BID represents around 450 city centre businesses in Newport and we all have a part to play in helping to get people off the streets.”

Contactless donation windows can be found in HPJV Solicitors, Specsavers Friars Walk and Livertons Opticians in Newport.

You can also text PORT24 £3 to 70070. Find out more at thewallich.com/street-support