Today is both World Homeless Day, and also my last day as CEO of the 999 Club. As people around the world reflect on the current state of homelessness in their neighbourhoods, I am reflecting on the last 4 years here in Deptford, south East London.….
I am sad to be leaving this special organisation, into which I have poured my heart and soul. It’s an amazing place, where extraordinary change happens every day.
It has been quite a journey. When I started, I identified some initial challenges which 999 Club faced, most of which came from the pandemic.
Before COVID, 999 Club had run a Night Shelter. This had been shut in the early days of the first lockdown, for obvious reasons, and this in turn meant the charity was not supporting enough people and was on course to record a financial deficit. Perhaps more profoundly, it meant we weren’t sure of our role and identity.
When I started there barely any existing staff or services. At that point my three main priorities were to:
- Create welcoming services
- Build a cohesive team
- Build a sustainable business model
- Launch a new strategy
Reflecting on these goals, 4 years later, it makes me really happy that we now have a solid range of services, delivered by passionate and committed staff and volunteers. During my time here we:
- Worked with nearly 4,000 different people..
- The service is always busy!
- 98% of people who answered our last survey agreed that our services are welcoming
- We recorded a modest surplus last year and are on course for a modest surplus this year
- We rebranded; Our visual Identity is now more aligned with the way we look and sound.
- We brought NHS medical services in-house
- We are coming to the end of our 3 year plan where we said we would create “an open door for anyone that wants to escape homelessness… work[ing] with the people that use our services and specialist organisations, making sure people are fully supported to find and stay in a home.“
This last point is the one about which I am most proud. People are now clear about what the 999 Club is: a welcoming place for people experiencing homelessness, where they can meet their immediate needs and start to engage with support so that they can find a home, maximise their income and find meaningful daytime activities.
However, it’s not been all plain sailing. I would have loved to have developed our building, for us to have taken on more of a role promoting the voices of people with experience of homelessness to decision makers and so many more things we could have done if we had had the time, resources and funding.
Now we are in autumn 2024 and things are tough and getting tougher. The number of people sleeping rough is far higher than it was 4 years ago, housing of all forms is scarce and services are stretched. There’s a new government that’s committed to ending homelessness, but we’re not getting ahead of ourselves, given the last one was too.
I am so grateful to the staff, volunteers, trustees, funders and partners who have made my time at 999 Club so challenging and rewarding. Mostly though, I am thankful to the people who have used our services.
We now call everyone with a connection to 999 Club a “member”: donors, service users, volunteers, staff and our members are amazing. They have been through hardships and terrible experiences. They often have very few people on whom they can rely, and have been excluded from support services. Not only do they keep on going in the face of challenges which would be enough to stump many of us, but they do so often with determination, good humour and hope.
Thank you to everyone from whom I’ve learnt, and good luck to us all!