Greater Change

Greater Change

Description

Greater Change was founded by Alex McCallion, who, while volunteering with homelessness charities, saw many homeless people fail to progress into work, training or housing because they lacked relatively small sums of money – for example, £300 for a construction course, £80 for ID or £1,000 as a rent deposit. Greater Change offers a technology platform where homeless people can raise these sums. Using a website or contactless payment terminals, individuals can contribute towards the costs of homeless peoples’ specific action plans. A trial of the system with 30 homeless people in Oxford remarkably saw 87.5% successfully move into sustained housing. Greater Change will use funding from The Fore, following the success of its pilot with two contactless terminals, to roll out a further 32 terminals in new locations. This will allow Greater Change to develop partnerships with new local authorities, facilitate the rollout of terminals in new areas and enhance the organisation?s financial sustainability.