HARBOUR Housing recently welcomed a charity leader from Kent to its supported housing project in St Austell to share best practice in helping people with complex needs.

During the visit, Mary Stredwick, chief executive of the Folkstone-based charity Rainbow Centre, met staff, toured services and saw Harbour’s street outreach hotspot work in action.

Mary’s visit to the Cornish housing charity comes as the Rainbow Centre begins developing its own supported housing offer, with a focus on learning from Harbour’s high-tolerance, trauma-informed approach.

Mary said: “I’m really looking forward to immersing myself in the work Harbour Housing is doing and learning from it as we develop our own supported housing journey.”

Alex Dean, head of supported housing at Harbour Housing, added: “We spoke openly about the challenges of the Supported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Act 2023, making sure it’s lived in practice, not just written on paper, and that it doesn’t unintentionally exclude those with the most complex needs.”