Innovative partnership delivers vital services and temporary accommodation for local residents

Marsh House has been brought back into active use to provide 11 units of supported youth homelessness accommodation, 22 units of temporary accommodation and a community hub drop-in facility.

Additional features also include communal kitchens, lounges, games and TV rooms, accommodation for staff, outside wellbeing spaces and active travel provisions.

It will serve as a homelessness assessment and triage centre, providing interventions for those requiring temporary accommodation in a crisis.

The innovative transformation is a result of partnership work between the Welsh Government, Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council, Merthyr Valleys Homes and Pobl.

The refurbishment received more than £1m in funding support from the Welsh Government’s Transforming Towns Capital Funding alongside support from Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council’s core capital funding.

Additional funding from the Housing Support Grant will support ongoing work by Merthyr Valley Homes.

The Cabinet Secretary for Housing, Local Government and Planning, Julie James, recently had the pleasure of visiting Marsh House and meeting with some of its residents to discuss their lived experiences.

The Cabinet Secretary said: “The Marsh House project promotes the restoration of key buildings in our town centres as well as providing vital temporary accommodation, supported living and tailored in-house service provisions to local residents.

“The fantastic work being undertaken at Marsh House demonstrates that by working together in partnership we can help support our communities when they need us most.

“Homelessness cannot be prevented through housing alone and we have long recognised that all public services and the third sector have a role to play in ending it.

“Everyone deserves to have somewhere to call home and I would very much like to see this project’s approach replicated in other areas facing similar challenges.

Lorraine Griffiths, Assistant Director (Support) at Pobl Group , said: “As the largest provider of support services in Wales for people experiencing or at risk of homelessness, Pobl was delighted to welcome the Cabinet Secretary to Marsh House.

"Our new support service, Marsh House, demonstrates how we work in a multi-agency way within a psychologically informed environment to positively support those who need it most on their journey to creating a stable and secure home.”

In October 2023, the Welsh Government introduced it’s White Paper that sets out how the Welsh Government plans to end homelessness in Wales.

The proposed legislation will transform the experience of those who are homeless and at risk of homelessness by fundamentally changing the homelessness system and the role of professionals working within and around it.

ENDS