A Fresh Start: Support for the homeless

Aim

To support our homeless cafe and Support Hub as we respond to the impact of the pandemic and help people to get back on their feet.

Who: Sanctus is a charity based in Chelmsford, Essex supporting homeless and vulnerable individuals in the community. We are the only day centre in a significant part of Essex, providing food and support services 365 days a year.

What: We are seeking support for our homeless cafe and Support Hub as we expand our services and deliver them in a larger premises. A move which was necessary to respond to the impact of the pandemic and to help people to get back on their feet.

Why: As a result of COVID-19 the demand on our services has grown and we struggled to effectively deliver our services in our old building. The move is a vital part of a recovery programme for individuals who have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic.

Where: 30-32 Broomfield Road, Chelmsford, Essex, CM1 1SW

When: From July 2021

£1,500 could pay for any of the following activities in our new building:

• 385 freshly cooked meals for a homeless and/or vulnerable person
• 150 people provided with the initial support they need to access help
• 60 sessions for staff member to give specialist advice to support someone turning their life around
• 30 "Move-In Basics" packs to provide someone with the essentials they need after being rehoused from the streets
• provide 15 people with 1:1 support across multiple sessions to help with obtaining accommodation, addiction support, benefits issues and returning to work

About our project:

Sanctus is the only day centre in a significant part of Essex helping an increasing number of homeless and vulnerable individuals. Before the pandemic, Sanctus’ services were already stretched and our building was full to capacity. Over the last year, we are continually seeing new people coming to Sanctus. The economic challenges of this situation mean many people are struggling and on top of financial hardship, we are seeing the impact of domestic abuse and the mental health crisis. The reality is these areas are going to need major support for 2021 and the following years, these issues are and will continue to be nationwide and we intend to play our part in helping people.

Sanctus has remained open every single day since the pandemic began, providing food and support services 7 days a week. Our team, who work daily on the front line, know the people who come to our door and therefore understand the lived experience of those who have struggled through this time and continue to do so. 

The Sanctus day centre has been a pillar in the community since 2012, and it has always been a safe space where marginalised individuals could come and spend the day, while receiving the help they need. When we had to change to a takeaway service to comply with COVID regulations and guidance, we saw the impact this had on our service users, who asked daily when they would be able to come in to spend the day in the centre and support Hub again. For all these reasons, and through a decade worth of experience, we know that reopening the Sanctus café and Support Hub to full operation was always going to be crucial when helping homeless and vulnerable individuals and responding to the impact the pandemic has had on the community. We are pleased to say that our doors are open and our vulnerable cohort can come into our café and Support Hub again.

Although our previous building has served us well for many years, the new building, which is 3x bigger, offers many more opportunities to support the homeless and vulnerable. It is a community space in the heart of the city and has been, and will continue to be, a lifeline for many and will offer the opportunities for our service users to take the next steps in their journey to living well and self-sufficiently.

 Our new and improved facilities include:

• Seating for over 70 people in the café at any one time.
   
• Sofa area with a TV, where people can read books, play games and relax.
   
• 3 desks with PCs and phones in the café for clients to use for free.
   
• Commercial kitchen, walk-in fridge and a dishwasher that takes only 2 minutes!
   
• Extensive storage facilities.
   
• 3 rooms for external providers, 2 Hub support rooms and Sanctus office space.
   
• Private outdoor seating area with benches, planters and an awning.

Forming part of the day centre the Sanctus Café is intended to respond to food poverty as well as social isolation as it gives individuals an opportunity to have something freshly cooked and nutritious to eat every day, while creating a space where they can speak to other people and build support networks. The Sanctus Support Hub responds to more complex issues that surround why someone has become homeless or struggling in other ways. The services delivered for free include, housing and sustaining tenancies, health and well being services, support into work, and many more. The Hub is also somewhere for external agencies to come to deliver their services, we believe in opening up the space to others. This means individuals can not only come to Sanctus for something to eat, but they can also meet with both our Hub Support team and other agencies. We work with and have built trust with some of the most marginalised people in our community, which means they feel comfortable to come to us to ask for help. Through this and our collaborative working relationships with over 24 other agencies, we can make sure that they access the help they need. The new building is the catalyst for the multi-organisational approach being developed to tackle homelessness and other vulnerabilities in Chelmsford and the surrounding areas.

Here are some photos of our new building and facilities: 

To show the impact this work can have, we have included below some of our achievements in 2020:

• Served over 16,900 freshly cooked meals for free.
• Distributed over 15,000 items (sandwiches, pies, etc.) that would have gone to waste were collected from local Chelmsford businesses and given away in the café.
• Completed over 1,100 free mentoring, advice and advocacy sessions, just one session can change the direction of someone’s life.
• Over 200 people obtained clothes and sanitary products.
• 60+ people were provided with tents, sleeping bags and other essential items.
• We worked alongside 11 different agencies, helping to build an eco-system of support for our clients.
• Scores of people assisted into housing including 10 individuals who were directly re-housed into fully furnished housing where Sanctus provided kitchen goods, furniture and other items for their new homes.
• Numerous evictions were prevented through our tenancy sustainment programme which ensures individuals do not end up back on the streets.

With the expansion of our services, these figures will only increase for 2021 meaning any help we can get to respond to this need will greatly benefit our services, and ultimately our service users.

To find out more about our work, watch this video: 

This project successfully funded on 21st September 2021