Two of the country’s leading homelessness charities Crisis and St Mungo’s are joining forces, along with the GLA, London boroughs and Newham Council, to extend the hotel-based Crisis at Christmas service in London.
The hotel provision will now run until 26th January 2023 and provide a vital opportunity to offer tailored support to 148 people who may otherwise be sleeping rough.
This is the second year that, with the funding from DLUHC, charities have worked together to extend the Christmas service.
Typically, Crisis’ long-running Christmas provision comes to an end shortly after the new year, following a two-week period where guests are given somewhere safe and warm to sleep, three meals a day, companionship and expert advice from Crisis staff and volunteers.
Last year, 75% of guests who benefited from the extended stay didn’t return to the streets. Crisis and partners hope to build on this success in 2023, supporting as many people as possible to start their journey out of homelessness for good.
With the hotel extension funded by the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities – as well as through public donations to Crisis and vital collaboration with St Mungo’s, the GLA, London boroughs and Newham Council – guests will be provided with additional services including access to vaccines, mental health and substance-misuse support.
The extension of hotel-based support will mean guests have somewhere safe and warm to stay during some of the coldest weeks of the year.
It also gives precious time for Crisis and St Mungo’s to work with guests, putting even more people on the path out of rough sleeping for good by providing guidance and support with issues like employment and permanent accommodation and encouraging engagement with the longer-term support that is available all year round.
Crisis Chief Executive, Matt Downie, said: “This really is a transformative opportunity for our guests and gives us the best possible chance of preventing people from returning to the streets. In these extra weeks our staff and volunteers will be able to provide intensive, one-on-one support to guests, creating tailored plans to end their homelessness and linking them in with the year-round services on offer from organisations like Crisis.
“I’m delighted that we have once again been able to come together as a sector and am also grateful for the support that the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities has been able to offer. Through careful, expert help, person by person we can start to rebuild lives away from the trauma and hardship of homelessness.”
St Mungo’s Chief Executive, Emma Haddad, said: “Having seen the positive and life-changing results that last year’s collaboration had for people who had been sleeping rough in London we were determined to do our best to ensure it would be repeated this year. And we are pleased that all partners have come together again – and for the support from DLUHC and the GLA.
“St Mungo’s specialist teams – who are out on the streets 365 days a year – will once again bring their expertise to this project, helping to ensure that people who are accommodated over Christmas will have spent their last night on the streets, and will not have to return to sleeping rough in the New Year.
“We know the life-changing results that can be achieved when we work together, and this extension is another great example of what is possible with a flexible ‘can-do’ approach, and collaborative partnership working.”
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: “Since becoming Mayor, I’ve made it a personal priority to tackle rough sleeping in the capital and we’ve managed to help a record 13,500 people through our City Hall-funded support services as we work to build a fairer London for all. The extension of Christmas support into the new year will ensure some of the most vulnerable Londoners have somewhere to stay during the often-freezing month of January. The wraparound support provided by St Mungo’s and Crisis will help even more people rebuild their lives and end their homelessness for good.”
