2.  Your name, in what capacity you are here today (work/church/personal interest) and …  What interested you about this workshop or what question would you like answered?

3.  An opportunity to... ◦ find out more about how Church Night Shelters are supporting homeless people across England and Wales ◦ find out more about how they work and how you can set one up ◦ ask questions and share personal experiences

4. ◦ Rolling church model – more recently including mosques, synagogues, temples ◦ Building Community ◦ 7 venues – model variations ◦ Volunteers – team leaders, shift leaders, cooks, welcomers, cleaners, activity leaders ◦ Hospitality – the primary focus -Guest’ vs ‘Client’ distinction ◦ Creating an environment conducive to personal transformation What are Church and Community Night Shelters?

5.  How many venues?- 168- 182- 450?  How many volunteer hours over the winter period were given in time- 23,400- 56,700 – 112,300?  How many bed spaces were offered to guests who were homeless?- 12,634- 42,161- 43,239?

6.  What was achieved... ◦ 1,577 guests were offered overnight shelter for varying periods of time; of whom 491 received some sort of move on accommodation, which is a 34% move on rate! ◦ A total of 934 had some form of case management support (almost 60% of the total).

7.  Night Shelters take people who are actually homeless ◦ the majority of guests are neither sofa surfers, nor vulnerably housed i.e. ‘hidden homeless’ but are actually street homeless i.e. ‘rough sleepers’ ◦ Church and Community Night Shelters provide a valuable additional safety net, preventing people from having to sleep on the street

8.  Conditions in Church Night Shelters are good.  While the facilities can be fairly basic this is more than made up for in the quality of the hospitality and welcome.  Guests have their own space, clean bedding, hot and wholesome food, somewhere to wash, support and are offered a warm welcome.  Guests at projects often comment that the most important aspect of the projects to them is the way in which they are respected and spoken to as human beings, (evidenced in guest comments and feedback.)

9. - Look at local need and working in partnership  Find out what other Charities and Faith groups are doing- Is there a local Christian/Homelessness Forum?  Speak to someone in the housing department in your local Council, e.g. officers with responsibility for commissioning homelessness services.  What is your Local Authority’s Homelessness Strategy? Obtain statistical data on local need.  Contact those that are working with the people who would be your potential guests. Seeking the views of potential guests e.g. people using local day centres would be very valuable.  Homeless UK and Homeless London are useful sources of information on local homeless agencies e.g. hostels and day centres. They will be useful contacts to make in relation to local need and also to discuss where the gaps are in current services

10. -Housing Justice Support- Shelter in a Pack#2 -Cinnamon Network Start up funding -Housing Justice Quality Mark- A quality standards review arising from partnership collaboration and 25 years of experience supporting shelters

11.  Model & Timing  Pilot Year?  Project Coordinator & Team Leaders Roles  Practicalities: facilities, equipment, women, smoking area, recreational facilities, personal washing facilities, laundry, clothing, food  Health & Safety: risk assessments, first aid, fire safety, food hygiene, safeguarding & DBS checks, emergency contacts, alcohol/drugs/violence  Planning Permission and Insurance  Clear Admissions/Referrals Procedure: partnership working, guest move-on, linking in to the shelter network  Monitoring & Evaluating: Get The Data, data spreadsheet

12. Volunteers & Training  Meeting with primary vision carriers to ascertain vision, context, potential partners to collaborate with etc.  Meeting of venue team leaders: to establish best practice and practical advice on running a Shelter and establishing values that group works to  Volunteer training that meets the requirements of the HJQM  Volunteer handbook and agreement  Nightly volunteer briefings before opening Up  HJ ‘Introduction to Homelessness’ training

13. Policies & Paperwork  Project: Confidentiality Policy, Data protection Policy, Violence Policy, Drugs & Alcohol Policy, Health & Safety Policy, Equal Opportunities Policy, Nightly Risk Assessment, Infectious Disease Leaflet  Project Coordinator/Team Leader: Log Book, Daily Log Sheet, Emergency Contacts, Incident Form, Guest Map, Guest Agreement, Guest Registration, Guest Referral Form, Guest Referral Procedure, Guest Information Consent Form, Guest Feedback Form  Volunteers: Volunteer Registration, Volunteer Information Pack, Volunteer Rota, Volunteer Handbook, Volunteer Agreement, V&V Register, Volunteer Feedback Form

15. Paignton-the pilot; an example of local churches responding to the needs of homeless people in this area. Birmingham- three years on. Bradford-established project, mobilising over 600 volunteers

16.  HJ CCNS Aim: To develop the culture and practise of Christian hospitality to homeless people that leads to personal transformation, thus providing the foundation for movement away from the streets and towards ‘home’

17.  Any Questions?  Contact Emma or Mark E.Neill@HousingJustice.org.uk M.Brennan@HousingJustice.org.uk