Maggs Day Centre was established in 1985 to support rough sleepers across the County. We help around 600 people every year. We provide the following services: 2 Open door Day Centres offering food, shelter and support in Worcester and Malvern; Clothing store providing free clothes, sleeping bags, etc; Accommodation project to house former rough sleepers in shared houses with support until they learn the life skills to maintain their own tenancy and an outreach service which goes out into the community to engage with isolated rough sleepers.
Our ethos is not to just support rough sleepers in their current lifestyle, but to support them to address the issues that affect them – substance abuse, poor physical and mental health, lack of skills – so that they can be housed in a sustainable way. We work with the most entrenched rough sleepers, providing a range of services addressing rough sleeper’s holistic needs. Our aim is to support rough sleepers to move off the streets and into sustainable permanent accommodation.
We want to provide permanent housing for rough sleepers but this will only work if they have the right support to develop the skills to maintain their tenancies. After years of living on the streets they are not able to deal with budgetary management, paying bills, or applying for benefits without support. To achieve this we will provide accommodation for rough sleepers for up to 6 months with up to 5 hours a week support. During this time Tenancy Sustainment Workers will work with the person to develop the skills needed, then they will be referred to permanent housing.