StreetVet, the charity that provides free accessible veterinary care and services to pets experiencing homelessness across the UK has been honoured in the national homelessness Excellence Awards, run by Homeless Link.
Homeless Link is the national membership charity for frontline homelessness organisations, and its annual awardsrecognise the innovative and impactful work happening across the sector to support people experiencing homelessness and rough sleeping in England.
StreetVet has been awarded one of the five prestigious awards, for ‘Excellent Support’ –providing support services that make a real difference in peoples’ lives.
StreetVet recognises and champions the importance of the human-animal bond and the impact a pet has on the lives of those experiencing homelessness, often providing comfort, support and a reason to live. Since its inception, StreetVet has treated over 2,800 pets and performed more than 10,300 consultations.
StreetVet also works with hostels and temporary accommodation providers nationally, encouraging them to be part of the StreetVet Accredited Hostel Scheme. It has so far supported over 215 pets and owners through the StreetVet Accredited Hostel Scheme, trained 95 hostel staff members around having pets in the accommodation, and currently has 26 StreetVet Accredited Hostels.
The organisation was selected from 149 entries to the Excellence Awards across the five categories, 30 of which were shortlisted. It will receive £3,000 to invest in staff wellbeing, learning and development, provided by the St-Martin-in-the-Fields Charity.
The judging panel, comprising five experts from across the homelessness sector, commended StreetVet for its unique, clear and simple model that was able to support huge numbers of people (and their pets). The charity’s accredited hostel scheme also received particular praise.
Collette Sheaff, Head of Marketing at StreetVet said, “StreetVet is honoured to be selected as the winner of the Homeless Link Excellent Support Excellence Award, our first recognition by an awards scheme from the homelessness sector. We’re a small charity and so we always ensure funds raised are directed at our work with pets and owners experiencing homelessness. This award gives us the opportunity to run a team-building and development day for our small, remote-working team. It will really help us continue to drive our StreetVet mission, vision and values forward.”
Rick Henderson, Chief Executive of Homeless Link, added: “Homeless Link’s annual Excellence Awards highlight the innovative, impactful and dedicated work happening across the country to ensure that people have a place to call home and the support they need to keep it. With homelessness organisations still under huge pressure from ballooning demand amidst cuts to their funding, it’s important to recognise these exceptional efforts.
“In providing free and accessible veterinary care for the pets of people experiencing homelessness, StreetVet addresses a clear need and has an extremely positive impact on the wellbeing of their clients and pets alike while helping to move them away from homelessness. We congratulate them on receiving this award.”
For a full list of award winners, click here.
