Youth home group needs more rooms

The scheme in Merseyside has helped 17,000 people

An organisation which finds shelter and support for homeless young people has said it "urgently" needs to boost its appeal and recruit more volunteers.

Denbighshire Supported Lodgings (DSL), which launched in May, is modelled on a successful scheme on Merseyside.

The project pays £140 a week to people who can offer their spare room and support to a young person.

But just three people have been placed in lodgings since May, and only two new families have signed up to offer help.

The Denbighshire scheme had eight families signed up to offer accommodation when it launched, but so far only three people have been placed in those homes.

I think we were realistic from the start that something like this takes time to establish Wendy Lydiatt, DSL branch manager

A further two families have come forward to offer lodgings at their homes, and they are currently being trained to see if they can be accepted on to the scheme.

Wendy Lydiatt, branch manager for DSL, said trying to market the project has been a problem.

"We're having another recruitment drive now. It's a brand new service and we're trying to get the message out."

The project, is run by Denbighshire Council and the Merseyside Accommodation project in Liverpool, which launched supported lodgings in 1886.

During that time, more than 17,000 homeless teenagers have been helped to live independently across the border.

The scheme aims to help 16 to 20-year-olds, who are too old to benefit from local authority care, but too young to rent privately.

'Realistic'

Project workers are on hand to give support to both the young person and the householder.

At the launch, Jenny Elliott from Denbighshire Council's supporting people department, appealed for families to offer accommodation, saying: "The more we can recruit, the better."

However, Ms Lydiatt said organisers were not disappointed with the response.

She added: "I think we were realistic from the start that something like this takes time to establish."