C4WS Winter Night Shelter

The Pitch

Problem statement

Each winter we run a winter shelter providing emergency accommodation to those who are homeless. The shelter has space for 20 guests each night, and runs from November 2021 to April 2022. Each guest is allocated a welfare worker who helps them develop and achieve a move-on plan to access accommodation. Last year, 97% of those who engaged with our Welfare Team successfully achieved positive move-ons. As part of this plan, they will also receive wraparound holistic support to address, amongst other things, physical and mental health, substance misuse, isolation, family mediation and relationship restoration, finances and debt, immigration, legal issues, employability and literacy.

Solution

Our aim is to help someone address the issues that led to them needing the shelter and support them with rebuilding their lives to prevent a return in the future to homelessness. It is important that we are not just providing respite to people in the hard winter months. Our ethos is about ending homelessness. When someone comes to us they work with the Welfare Team to exit homelessness and we are really proud that over the last three years in excess of 95% of those working with us have successfully achieved positive move-ons. We are clear about the need and work holistically with people who stay with us to ensure they can rebuild their lives and leave behind homelessness.

Why are we best placed to deliver?

The unique nature of our shelter setup means our staff team sees our guests every day and we build a strong rapport and relationship with them. They trust their case worker and we work on every single aspect of the support they need. Our continued success in rehousing those who engage with us year on year, means that we know our support has real results. In addition, once someone leaves the shelter, our support does not stop. They can continue to access this for as long as they need. This is crucial in preventing a revolving doors system of repeated cycles of homelessness and ensuring long term successful interventions.

Focus Areas

Delivery plan

Budget breakdown

Beneficiaries

80 people

Expected impact

The support delivered by our small team is what makes the difference to those who access our shelter not returning to homelessness at the end of their 28 day stay. Our shelter network, and our incredible, dedicated volunteers, provide the entry point to changing a guest’s life. The warm, safe, friendly atmosphere of the shelter is just the start of their journey with C4WS. Our personalised welfare support for every individual who accesses our service and engages with us, is what makes a long-lasting difference.C4WS Homeless Project works with any person who is experiencing homelessness over the age of 18. We work with men and women, those that can access support from the government and those who can’t. A large majority of those who we support have been marginalised because of their sexuality, religion and political beliefs.

Track record

Case Study - 3 years post shelter: Kai was just 18 when he arrived in our shelter.His relationship with his parents had broken down and he had become homeless. He was vulnerable, adapting to living outside of the family home for the first time in his life and struggling with anxiety. Keeping his mind occupied was important for his wellbeing and self confidence. With complicated ID and benefits issues to unravel before he could obtain housing, he filled his time with our Jobs Club. Through this we secured him a placement in the IT department of a global business which progressed into a full-time job. When he moved into his new house, he joined our Mentoring and Befriending Scheme to get additional support. This covered learning to cook, sharing his passion for film and going to the cinema with his mentor. Today he lives with friends in a shared house and is still working at the same employer – he’s even managed to get them to support C4WS through volunteering and donations.

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