Winter is a hard time to be sleeping on the streets. This year more and more people will experience this, but with your help, we can prevent homelessness in Southeast London.
From 28 Nov to 05 Dec, all donations to our Gateway project will be matched! So for every £1 you donate. We receive £2 for our services.
Your support this winter has never been more needed. The cost-of-living crisis has pushed so many more people into destitution while Lewisham’s only other homeless day centre closed earlier this year. These factors combined have put our services under unprecedented pressure.
If you care about people experiencing homelessness and you can afford to make a gift then this is the time. Sign up for reminders to make your matched gift and read more about the appeal here: https://999club.org/double/
Our services have never been more in demand
As a result of the cost-of-living crisis and London’s expensive housing, we are seeing more and more people coming to our service. The service is experiencing unusually high levels of demand. As the chart below shows, we saw 22% more people in October than in April (523 in October, up from 429 in April).
People really value our service
Despite these enormous demands, we are proud to provide a friendly, welcoming service which is valued by the people that use it. In a recent anonymous survey of 120 people that use our service, 84% rated their experience as 🙂. This is nicely illustrated by some quotes from people who have used our services:
- “My time with 999 club was not necessarily great because it was a horrible experience being homeless. However if it wasn’t for the 999 club I would not have got housing and be where I am today. So I am very grateful for what the 999 club did for me.”
- “999 Club is doing a fantastic job for people in need. All the staff are very friendly and helpful.
- the best advice I ever heard was from your case workers which kick started my journey towards securing a home which I adore”
- “The 999 club saved my life.”
- “I am really happy for how 999 Club have helped me in terms of housing, teaching me some computer skills and some support.”
- “Since I’ve been using the 999 club you’ve gave me confidence back in a lot of ways it may not seem that but if I didn’t come there I wouldn’t of got to where I was now.”
- “What you have done is exceptional. It looks amazing. 999 is extraordinaire!”
- “I don’t know how you could possibly improve. This Women’s Sanctuary is just the most amazing place, there’s nothing like this anywhere else. I’m so glad I found it.”
- “Perfect Service . Very nice, very good”
Case studies– ending rough sleeping and providing empowering support
(1) J was rough sleeping for 6 weeks before he came to us on a Friday. Not only that, his belongings had been stolen. Within a few days we had supported him to find a place to stay, to get his anti-depressant medication and to start receiving counselling for his trauma and PTSD. J’s mental health is now more stable and he is now looking for work.
(2) K is over 65. He was living on the streets after being evicted from his private rented accommodation. Although he had previously had paid employment he was now too unwell to work. An ex-neighbour referred him to 999 Club. We were able to support him to apply for his pension and a freedom pass and to arrange for Housing Options to see him that day. Not only was he awarded a full pension but this was back dated almost a year and he is now in Temporary Accommodation.
Watch an interview with someone who used our services, talking about his experiences by clicking here
People that use our service get results
We are focusing on supporting people to find a home or to stay on their home. In the past 12 months, we supported 196 people to find a home, 203 people to stay in their home and avoid eviction and 312 people to start employment, education, training or volunteering.
Plan for the next year
We know that the coming year is likely to be tough and we are committed to providing friendly, welcoming and empowering support to anyone in Southeast London who is experiencing homelessness or at immediate risk of experiencing homelessness. The table below summaries our objectives for the coming year:
Objective 1: Deliver friendly, welcoming, empowering supportive services
- 1,600 different people will use our services, of which 400 will be women and 200 will have no recourse to public funds.
- At least 80% of people who use our service will give us a positive rating
- 100 different people will take part in co-production activities
- We will support 300 people to find a new home or staying in their current home and 300 people to start a job, volunteer or training
Objective 2: Build and maintain excellent fundraising relationships with trusts, donors, statutory partners and local companies
- We will raise the £1.4m it costs to provide our high quality services
Objective 3: Our communications will be produced with the people that use our services, to assert our position as a local charity that provides services that support people to escape homelessness for good
- We will launch a new website, logo and strapline
- We will create engaging social media content that connects with our audience and which share a positive narrative about breaking the cycle of homelessness
Objective 4: Ensure our property feels welcoming and safe
- We will secure planning permission to develop our building to provide modern, accessible, sustainable community space
Objective 5: Support our people by investing in their learning and development and giving them clear direction
- At least 80% of our staff will agree that they have enough time to get their work done within their allocated hours and that they have the equipment, training and information they need to do their job well