A HOMELESS charity has helped more than a thousand people move off the streets in five years.

The charity revealed 1,133 people have been saved from the streets since the charity began in 2013.

At the time Harp made the ambitious pledge to end rough sleeping, and in their latest impact report they celebrate doing just that for hundreds of Southend people who have been battling homelessness.

In that time, the charity have more than doubled their overall accommodation, growing from 77 rooms in 2012, to 174 in 2018.

David, who was homeless whilst suffering with a serious lung condition, found sanctuary at Harp who he said gave him life-saving support.

He said: “If I didn’t come to Harp, I’d probably be dead now.

“If I had been on the streets long term, I wouldn’t have survived many cold nights with my illness.”

The new report outlines the charity’s success, stating 1,133 people that were homeless have been rehomed between 2014 and 2018, including 146 entrenched, long-term rough sleepers.

Overall, Harp helped 5,710 people between 2013 and 2018, and they estimate this helped ensure a £60m saving to the public purse on other services.

In their report Harp record more than 3,800 medical interventions since 2014, helping to drastically improve the health and wellbeing of the people they support.

As this five-year strategy comes to an end, the charity is now looking ahead under the leadership of chief executive, Jackie Bliss.

She said: “The targets which Harp set itself five years ago were stretching, and those we are setting now for the coming five years are equally ambitious.

“They have to be, because the need for our services is as great as it has ever been, perhaps greater. It’s not going to be easy, but with the work that has gone before we have a fantastic opportunity to reach yet more people and help turn more lives around, innovating as Harp has always done in order to find solutions to our service users’ problems.” To read the full impact report visit: www.harpsouthend.org.uk/impact.