The Connection at St Martin's - helping homeless people in London
Food, shelter and healthcare for homeless people
The Connection at St Martins has the only free and instant access Night Centre for homeless people in London. Every winter, hundreds of people will rely on this for safe shelter away from the freezing conditions on the streets. We will be ensuring that as many people as possible can have access.
It ran from 10:00 AM, 4 December 2014 to 5:00 PM, 17 December 2014
Registered Charity in England and Wales (1078201)
Match funded Campaign target
£5,000
Amount raised
£7,125
Donations
42
Location
Campaign overview
Aims
Where's the money going?
Impact & reporting
I had an assessment at The Connection and started using all the services. I'd been successful before and knew I could be something again.
— Philip
The Outreach team had quite a practical approach. They realised it wasn't just a case of me being homeless, there was other issues.
— Hermen (now an Outreach worker himself)
When the wife died I was left to bring up my son. Then when my son left home I was on my own. I didn't feel right, I started getting depressed.
— John
I had an assessment at The Connection and started using all the services. I'd been successful before and knew I could be something again.
— Philip
The Outreach team had quite a practical approach. They realised it wasn't just a case of me being homeless, there was other issues.
— Hermen (now an Outreach worker himself)
When the wife died I was left to bring up my son. Then when my son left home I was on my own. I didn't feel right, I started getting depressed.
— John
Situation
The 21km-square borough of Westminster contains a staggering 25% of the rough sleeping population in England & Wales. Reasons for sleeping on the streets are varied, but recent figures show two leading causes to be loss of employment and eviction. Over the winter months, when temperatures can drop below freezing for several days in a row, there is a very real risk of severe health difficulties developing, and in some instances, death. A lack of nutritious food compounds these health problems
Solution
The Connection's Outreach team go out onto the streets seven-days-a-week, making contact with vulnerable rough sleepers and inviting them into our Night Centre. Our clients will receive a hot nutritious meal from our canteen, a hot shower, a bed, and access to all services, including the laundry and a GP when our Day Centre opens in the morning. We will then address the root causes of each person's homelessness, putting together a plan of personalised support to help them away from the street.