Cardfactory Foundation’s partnership with homeless charity Centrepoint has helped more than 11,000 people during its first year.

The three year partnership between the retailer's charitable arm and the charity sees young people who have faced homelessness or at risk of losing their home offered trauma informed psychological support by the charity nationwide.

A total of 107 young people were given this specialist psychological support so far.

Meanwhile the partnership has also looked to improve support and services for the charity’s almost 1,000 residents. Who received Christmas gifts from the Foundation’s link up with the charity during the Christmas period.

In addition, psychologically informed environment (PIE) training was given to more than 200 Centrepoint staff and to 62 partner charities UK wide.

Evaluation says that in total 11,600 young people have been helped through the partnership.

The Foundation and the charity add that improving access to mental health support comes as people face delays accessing specialist assessments and treatment.

The charity’s figures show that there were just under 124,000 young people at risk of or facing homelessness during 202425, up by 6% on the previous year. Around four in five of those accessing the charity’s support have a mental health issue.

“We are already seeing a difference in terms of young people being able to access a job and a home, just by having immediate access to psychological support when and where they need it,” said Centrepoint’s head of psychologically informed environments Dr Helen Miles.

“At a time when youth homelessness is rising nationally, partnerships like this are critical. The support from the Cardfactory Foundation is helping us create environments where young people feel safe, understood and able to rebuild their futures.”

Cardfactory Foundation head Pushpinder Gill added: “The impact we’ve seen in the first year of this partnership has been extraordinary. Behind every number is a young person at a moment of crisis who has been given support, stability and hope at a critical point in their life.”

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