Sheffield City Council Leader joins International Mayors Council on Homelessness

Sheffield City Council Leader Cllr Tom Hunt has joined the International Mayors Council on Homelessness.

The international council, created in 2023, is a partnership between UN Habitat, the United Nations Human Settlements Programme and DePaul University’s Ruff Institute of Global Homelessness in Chicago.

It is a global forum for city leaders to discuss the most pressing challenges, share evidence on initiatives that have worked, and bring global perspectives into the UN agenda. The council includes mayors and elected leaders from major cities across three continents including Chicago, Paris, São Paulo and Helsinki. Sheffield is one of only four British cities chosen to take part. Alongside the Deputy Mayor of London, Cllr Hunt joins Leaders and Mayors from Lambeth, Greater Manchester and Glasgow at the table.

Cllr Hunt said:

“It is a huge honour to have been invited to join the International Mayors Council on Homelessness. Our aim is to end homelessness and I am proud that we are now part of a global group of cities working to make that happen.

“Our membership of the council will allow us to share the work we are doing in Sheffield with an international audience and to learn from other global cities.”

Sheffield was invited to join the global council through the city’s involvement in the Homewards initiative, the five-year programme founded by Prince William and The Royal Foundation of the Prince and Princess of Wales to demonstrate that together it is possible to end homelessness. Sheffield City Council is part of the Homewards Sheffield Coalition that has come together to develop innovative, new ways to prevent people and families from becoming homeless.

In 2023, the Institute of Global Homelessness became one of 16 sector partners to join Homewards.

This five-year programme aims to work with six flagship locations across the UK and give them the tools, resources and expertise to focus on preventing and ending homelessness. At the heart of the programme is shared learning, and Cllr Hunt is among the first Homewards locations Leaders to join the International Mayors Council to share their learnings globally.

Cllr Hunt added:

“When Prince William has attended Homewards events in Sheffield, it was powerful to hear people who have experienced homelessness telling him about their lives. The Homewards Sheffield Coalition will have significant representation from those with lived experience of homelessness and their voices are central to the work we are undertaking.

“Sheffield is the fourth largest city in England and we are global, green and growing. Our goal is to end homelessness in our city - making it rare, brief and unrepeated. We stand ready to work with cities around the world to learn, share best practice and work together to ensure everyone has a safe, secure home.”

The International Mayors Council hold hybrid summits – with some leaders attending in person and some virtually. They hear from experts and exchange evidence-based best practices. The Council’s membership of the council will allow it to share the work being done in Sheffield with an international audience and to learn from other global cities.

The international council recently met in Paris and signed a joint declaration to work together and address homelessness. Cllr Hunt joined the summit remotely.

For more on the International Mayors Council and its declaration, head to the Ruff Institute of Global Homelessness' website.

For more information on Homewards, visit their website.