The Haven: Supporting people homeless in Watford.

Aim

Hot food, showers, clean clothes and housing support for people who are homeless in Watford – people with nowhere else to go.

In Watford, homelessness has risen dramatically since 2010 as the costs of living, renting and mortgages have increased. The picture at New Hope in 2020-21 showed a notable increase in the number of people needing our support with 621 individuals coming to our services, up from 572 in 2019-20. Our 24/7 emergency phoneline received over 900 calls last year. The financial impacts of the pandemic have accelerated existing causes of homelessness and sofa surfing and of those seeking support from New Hope over the last year, the majority of people had became homeless because their friends/family had asked them to leave or had been evicted by a landlord.

New Hope gives over 150 people a year a safe space to stay in their time of crisis and provides support for almost 600 people per year. Our trained and compassionate support workers are here for people with nowhere else to go – whether they are rough sleeping, living in their car, sleeping on a friend’s floor, struggling with mental health, engaged in alcohol or substance misuse, living in New Hope accommodation, or living in their own accommodation for the first time in a while.

In the UK, everyone should have access to food and water, clothing and a safe place to call home but for some, these basic needs are rarely guaranteed to be met. Homelessness is an incredibly challenging situation for anyone and while rough sleeping may be the most visible form of homelessness, there are many people across the country with no safe or permanent place to stay. Being homeless might mean staying with friends, sleeping in a car, on public transport or at work. New Hope's Haven is there to make sure that everyone has somewhere to go for essentials like food, hygiene facilities and advice, whatever their experience of homelessness.

“Thank you for everything that you have done, I don’t know how I would have managed without your help.” – a Haven service user

The Haven is the first port of call for someone experiencing rough sleeping or homelessness in Watford and acts as a central hub for humanitarian aid such as meals, showers, clothing and sleeping bags. Staffed by a team of dedicated support workers ready to offer advice and to connect people with relevant accommodation and support services, the team are highly trained with expert knowledge and understanding of homelessness and with strong links with the local council and other accommodation providers.

“We feel that it is so important to provide a space that is safe for everyone; service users, staff or volunteers – our team work tirelessly to ensure that everyone who enters the building knows that they are entering a place of safety. As both new and familiar faces who visit us may have been let down in the past by other services or relationships, we work hard to engage with every service user to build a strong rapport, aware that every interaction is incredibly important.” – Steve, manager of Outreach Plus

"The Haven provides a welcoming, safe and non-judgemental space for people rough sleeping and those affected by threats of homelessness, addiction or abuse. Our staff work hard to build relationships based upon trust and offer intensive support to the people we work with. One person told us recently that we are ‘a place of hope when you’ve hit rock bottom and have nowhere to turn’." – the Haven team

Right now we are seeing 34 people accessing support from the Haven each day – in some cases, this may be phoning our emergency helpline for advice but the majority of people who come to us may be rough sleeping or hidden homeless such as sofa-surfing with friends and family or ask risk of losing their home. With your support there will always be hot meals for those who are hungry, clean clothes for those who need them and a friendly face to listen and advise for those facing homelessness.

Could you help us to support someone in their time of crisis, someone with nowhere else to go?

£4.98 could provide hot meal, shower and laundry facilities for one person coming in from the cold.

£22.64 could provide two hours of key working with a trained and compassionate support worker, key work that could arrange a bank account or benefit claim for someone new to homelessness.

£48.76 could provide a night in a private room and support at New Hope's Emergency Accommodation instead of a night sleeping rough in Watford.

If you are able, please consider a donation to support people experiencing homelessness in Watford. Thank you.

This project successfully funded on 4th May 2022