THE major charity providing homelessness services in Chester for the last 40 years has lost its contract with Cheshire West and Chester Council.
Chester Aid to the Homeless (CATH) provides accommodation and support to help homeless people rebuild their lives.
It is unclear whether the company eventually chosen to run the borough-wide service will work in partnership with local groups like CATH on the ground.
CATH chief executive Robert Bisset is concerned his charity, which employs 34 people, has not made the short-list but is confident of survival.
He said: “The council has decided to put their services out to tender which they are perfectly entitled to do but unfortunately we are not one of the chosen organisations to go forward.
“CATH is celebrating its 40th anniversary and is part of the fabric of this city and synonymous with a brand people recognise. If you look at the number of homeless people in the city compared with a few years ago there is no comparison.
“That’s because the situation is highly managed,” added Mr Bisset, who says surveys from around 15 years ago used to show up to 30 people on the streets compared with about two today, which was due to a partnership led by CATH.
The other local group to miss out is Chester Women’s Hostel Association which has provided hostels for women fleeing domestic violence.
The council has drawn up a short list of five service providers from 70 applicants and the authority expects to announce a preferred bidder by this summer.
Homeless champion Cllr Jill Houlbrook said: “I think everyone recognises that our current service provision does not meet all of our requirements in relation to customer service, high quality accommodation and a need to improve the pathways, support and rehabilitation to independent living.”
