The 999 Club will open its homeless night shelter year-round from September, thanks to a £115,925 government grant announced today (June 22).
The South London charity will be one of the beneficiaries of £275,000 given to Lewisham Council from the government’s £30million Rough Sleeper Initiative to expand vital services for homeless people.
This is the first time the Deptford-based charity has received major government funding for its work.
The grant will enable the 999 Club to open its night shelter for longer and with greater capacity. Specifically, the money will pay for:
- The night shelter to open seven days a week, from mid- September through until at least late-March 2019;
- A 50 percent increase in capacity at the night shelter to 30 places a night (previously it was 20); and
- An extra member of staff to be employed to work overnight at the shelter.
Tim Fallon, CEO of the 999 Club said: “We are delighted that the 999 Club will be able to expand its night shelter to be able to provide a safe, warm place for more people sleeping rough locally.
“Homelessness does not just happen in the winter months – it is a year-round crisis. With this grant, we can open every night from the autumn until at least next spring, enabling us to support more people to get back on their feet.”
Shelter expansion
Previously, the 999 Club ran the shelter just in winter, providing beds for 10 people over a course of 10 weeks during the coldest months of the year.
However, the number of people seen by outreach workers as rough sleeping in Lewisham has rapidly increased in recent years – up by 270 percent between 2011/12 [1] and 2016/17 [2] .
To respond to this, the capacity of the night shelter has doubled since January 2018. Earlier this year, the charity opened its first spring shelter, and it is currently crowdfunding to raise £20,000 to fund its inaugural summer night shelter, which will open on July 2.
The new grant means the shelter will no longer be restricted to opening in 10-week seasons, but can operate continuously every night until the spring.
Each guest who arrives at the shelter is given toiletries, bedding, ear plugs, an eye mask and access to a shower, a laundry service and computers as well as dinner and breakfast daily. They are assigned a case manager who assists with securing any missing ID, accessing or maximising benefits, receiving healthcare, getting a job and securing housing.
The charity also runs a daily drop-in at its Gateway centre on Deptford Broadway, where its staff and volunteers provide holistic support to empower homeless people to transform their lives.
Giselle (name changed to protect identity), 46, was a guest at the night shelter in May this year, after being made homeless following illness.
During her time there, staff helped her apply and paid for a replacement birth certificate and a Citizen’s Card (a form of photo ID). The charity also paid her travelling expenses, supported her job hunting and tried to find new accommodation for her.
During her time at the shelter, she said: “It’s a good job that there are places like this (the 999 Club). I was on the streets during the storms. The weather was horrendous, the thunder very dangerous.
“I feel more revived (now). If you feel you have a goal and are working towards something productive you feel better. I don’t feel as exhausted as I did. Now I have things to apply for.”
[1] https://www.mungos.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/chain_street_to_home_annual_report_2011-12.pdf [2] https://data.london.gov.uk/dataset/chain-reports