The Parish Church of St John-at-Hampstead

Extracts from a report to the Trustees by Amanda Pickering, Shelter worker

This season the C4WS shelter opened up a month earlier than we’ve ever been able to before and with the record breaking freezing weather it could not have come at a better time for our guests. 

During November we receive 75 phone calls, accepted 44 guests to the shelter and 31 guests accessed a bed space. Out of these 31 guests, 10 were supported in accessing accommodation through reconnecting with family and friends, hostels, shared housing, supporting housing and private rented accommodation.  Of those guests 4 disengaged [left without accepting help], 1 was banned, 1 moved to another shelter, 1 couldn’t keep to the rules and 1 stopped over at the shelter for only one night. 

Who are our guests?
We have seen a considerable number of female guests staying with us so far this season. In the first couple of weeks the guest make up was predominately men but since then, on a standard shelter night there have been approximately 3-4 female guests. In this group we have seen people fleeing domestic violence, a pregnant lady, people with mental health issues and many other complex needs.

In the first month there have been 16 nationalities represented from all over the world from Italy, to Poland to Kosovo to Spain.   There have been 9 British guests, 5 Eritreans, 2 Congolese and 2 French. On the whole all guests have respected each other’s cultures and different ways of doing things and many have made friends with people from other countries, cultures and beliefs.
       
Age range
As in previous years there are more guests between 18 and 25 years old than any other age group. We have so far seen 1 guest who is 63 and waiting for his pension tax credit to come through. He has become somewhat of the C4WS mascot this season and we are looking forward to seeing him move into sheltered housing very soon.    

We have had referrals from a wide spectrum of agencies such as employment agencies, health service providers, solicitors and churches but the highest number has come from New Horizons Youth Centre and Alone in London who both work with young people between 16 and 25. This has largely contributed to the age of the guests at the shelter.

Support needs
A major difference we have already noticed from last season is that although we are seeing similar guests to last year in terms of the countries they are coming from and age groups, many guests have one or multiple support needs i.e. mental health issues with alcohol and/or drug problems.

The biggest support need of the guests has been to improve their English. Therefore we have been working closely with agencies that can provide English classes at no cost to the guests, irrespective of whether they have access to benefits or not. This has been very difficult due to the cuts in government funding but we are pleased to say we have found 1 or 2 agencies that can still give support to our guests in this area. 27% of guests with support needs have had mental health problems mainly around depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder. Having said this while being in the shelter many have expressed feeling much calmer and positive than before they came to us and we are working very hard with each guest to ensure that they are linked into the appropriate services to support them with the issues they are facing.
                   
Poverty and cutbacks in funding
In November 71% guests had recourse to public funds which is 12% higher than at this stage in the shelter in 2009. This means that more people can access accommodation; however due to cuts in spending there are fewer accommodation providers available.  In previous years guests would have 2 or 3 options to choose from in terms of accommodation – now there may only be 1. Many guests are also on waiting lists for accommodation. We still have a large number of guests with absolutely no recourse to public funds and in this situation we are aiming to help remove the barriers preventing them from accessing work i.e. interview techniques, ESOL classes, CV writing. This is being carried out in close partnership with specialist employment and training agencies.

The primary reason for homelessness cited by the guests has been lack of money (41%). This has been largely due to recent loss of jobs and the economic climate we are in; immigration, relationship breakdown and a combination of factors also contribute to homelessness.  We have seen particularly in the younger age group people falling out with their parents and families and having nowhere else to go.

As in the past, over half of our guests have been homeless for less than 3 months, many just a couple of days or weeks. It is imperative that shelters like ours are there to ensure that people do not become long term rough sleepers, when it is more likely they will develop complex support needs and be a harder group to reach in terms of engaging with services and rehousing.

We are grateful to all the churches who open their doors to us, to the volunteers who run the shelters,  and to all our funders without whose support we could not function.       

Judy East, Secretary to CARIS Trustees