Learning from practice

The Northampton SWAN NEST pilot was developed to address some of the accommodation and health needs of sex workers in Northampton. Almost 80% of the sex workers were known to be homeless3 and over 90% drug dependent.

This combination of drug use and homelessness was thought to hamper their access to health care and their ability to gain paid employment outside the sex industry.

The aims of the SWAN NEST pilot were to:
● increase the availability and take up of supported housing for sex workers.
● provide for, and use of, safe and supervised environments for contact.
● provide a crisis bed for sex workers.
● increase access to primary care services.
● increase access to drug treatment and support services.
● increase access to treatment for Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) and HIV.
● increase access to training and employment .
● increase awareness of health and social care needs of sex workers and the
impact on individuals and society.
● reduce antisocial behaviour by sex workers in the managed area.

The supported housing scheme, called the NEST (Now Exiting the Sex Trade),comprised 1 bed for longer-term housing support and a crisis bed scheme to be used as a means of preventing vulnerable women entering the sex industry. Both were to be provided by a local housing association and managed by the Council for Addiction in Northampton (CAN) Homeless Action Team.

The pilot employed a tenancy support worker to manage the supported accommodation and provide on-going support to prevent entry to and supportThe NEST used flexible tenancies which enabled women to be accommodated for between 3 days to 2 years. In practice the crisis bed was designed to be used for 3 days at a time, although this could be extended if necessary.exit from the industry.

The support was designed to enable women to access appropriate primary health care services, including detox programmes for substance misuse. The tenancy support worker also ensured that women had the opportunity to enter education and training programmes and take advantage
of volunteering opportunities as a means of securing long term employment. It was anticipated that the tenancy support worker would also offer a reduced levelof support to women who, having left the NEST, had moved on to ‘settled’ accommodation.

Project described and evaluated in detail in An evaluation of the Supporting People Health Pilots CSIP / Dept for Communities and Local Government July 2006