Immediate Release

Nick Clegg, Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Secretary and Member of Parliament for Sheffield Hallam, will be visiting a local homelessness charity at 12:30pm on Friday 26 January 2007.

Nick will meet staff and service users at Action Housing & Support, hear about their work and listen to their concerns over future government funding for the homeless.

Action Housing has been working in Sheffield for thirty years, providing support to vulnerable individuals who are homeless or face losing their home. Work is mostly funded by the government, but tighter budgets and greater competition is beginning to harm the provision of much needed services.

Providing housing support for offenders, people with drug or alcohol issues and those suffering from mental health problems is vital for local communities and neighbourhoods. Insecure housing is one of the biggest causes of repeat offending, drug relapses and anti-social behaviour and helping people to break the cycle of homelessness, prison and drug treatment has a positive impact on everyone.

Russell Ward, Action Housing’s Chief Executive, said: “Organisations like ours are providing crucial services to some of the most marginalised members of society, vastly improving the lives of individuals and also the people living around them. For our work to continue to the current standard we depend upon a steady income and we’re grateful to Nick for understanding how important this is for our community.”

Nick Clegg said: “As Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Secretary for my party I appreciate the need for charities like Action Housing to continue providing these vital services. As an MP for Sheffield I can see the tremendous impact they are making in our neighbourhoods. If we want to continue improving people’s lives then we need to make sure these organisations get the support they need and reliable funding is central to that.”

Notes to Editors

Nick Clegg MP will be visiting Action Housing & Support at 12:30pm on Friday 26 January 2007 at:

22 Wilkinson Street

Sheffield

S10 2GB

For further information please contact:

Matt Barker in the Public Relations office on 01709 821251, 07985813045, or Matt.Barker@ActionHousinguk.org