Transforming Lives - Restoring Hope. A community initiative working in partnership with statutory agencies, charities, community and faith groups to provide holistic support for people who are street homeless in Southall. Enabling people to take ways out of rough sleeping which result in them leading fulfilled lives. Meeting a Need:
Southall is a vibrant and diverse multicultural community; it ha
s particularly strong links to the Indian Subcontinent and continually attracts many new visitors and residents. A very small minority of these newcomers or those experiencing major life problems can find themselves homeless and sleeping on the streets. Homelessness is a growing problem in Southall along with many other areas of London and the UK, with the rising cost of living continuing to contribute to the problem. However, the individuals that are homeless in Southall do not always fit the profile of rough sleepers elsewhere in the UK – most do not have access to public funds for benefits and are unable to get out of their desperate situation leading to a spiral of despair, hopelessness and frequently addiction. A Community Response:
Hope for Southall Street Homeless is a community initiative born out of a desire to see real change for the better in the lives of those who are rough sleeping in Southall. We are firmly rooted in the Southall community, with active involvement from local faith and community groups, from whose members our leadership is drawn and who provide the majority of our volunteers. We recognize and affirm the role of religious faith in Southall, its importance in motivating many of the people and organizations who are part of this initiative, and its significance in the lives of those we seek to help.We believe that these issues affect the whole community, that the solution is the responsibility of the whole community, and can only be truly addressed by the whole community and in a community context. Our Vision:
We believe that people flourish when they have a sense of their own value, self-worth and human dignity, trust those around them, have a network of positive, supportive relationships, can significantly influence the course of their own life, and hope for a good future. We long to see the lives of those who sleep rough on the streets of Southall transformed as, working in partnership with others:
– We build positive, trusting relationships with them founded on their intrinsic worth as fellow human-beings;
– We offer them warmth, acceptance and respect;
– We seek to foster a sense of dignity, self-respect and hope;
– We walk alongside them as they seek to take control of their own lives;
– We provide practical help in meeting their basic needs for food, shelter and security;
– We speak up on their behalf, giving a voice to the voiceless;
– We provide a stable, supportive framework in which they can tackle some of the obstacles they face, such as drug and alcohol misuse, mental ill-health, lack of documentation or uncertain immigration status. Our Objectives:
Our objectives are to ensure all clients have a route out of rough sleeping by:
– Addressing immediate rough sleeping in the local area through targeted support and accommodation;
– Stabilising & supporting vulnerable rough sleepers (substance misuse, mental & physical health);
– Assessing and resolving immigration issues;
– Applying for Stay or Asylum where cases have at least 50% chance of success;
– Facilitating a dignified return to a home country through voluntary return;
– Preparing individuals for the next step. How are we doing this?:
We began our work in January 2016 through the opening of the Southall Winter Night Shelter, providing a rolling night shelter for local rough sleepers who have been referred by the Ealing Outreach Team and who are willing to engage in an active way with the support services we offer through our partner agencies. We are extremely grateful to the two Southall churches which are providing the venues for the shelter as well as many of the volunteers; to the Sikh community for its active involvement including providing many of the meals; and to St Mungos Broadway, RISE, Refugee Action and our other partners for their support and the services they offer to our guests; and to our funders, including Ealing Council through Ward Forum grants. We have a paid Co-ordinator and also have paid Night Workers on duty at the Shelter every night. Nonetheless we could not run the Shelter without the commitment, energy and dedication of the dozens of volunteers who give freely of their time and who play a vital part in supporting our guests. What next?:
The Southall Winter Night Shelter is due to run from January to March 2016. By the end of March we hope to have in place an interim venue so that we can continue to operate until we can identify a site in Southall for a permanent base, obtain the necessary funding and make it suitable for our needs. What can you do to help?:
Hope for Southall Street Homeless is at its heart a community initiative, and without the community’s support we cannot achieve our goal. We need volunteers:
– Can you offer some of your time as a volunteer on-site at the Shelter, perhaps once or twice a month?
– We need teams of people on duty in the evening, overnight, and first thing in the morning, seven days a week.
– We particularly need people who can do the overnight shift. Is that you?
– We also need volunteers in all kinds of support roles, and people with particular skills, such as admin, finance or IT. We need money:
– Any amount, large or small, will be of help to us. We need a permanent venue:
– Do you know of a site in Southall which might be suitable for us, or sources of capital funding to help us acquire and adapt it for our needs?
