Could you Volunteer with People Experiencing Homelessness?
September 25, 2024
Homeless charity, Housing Justice, is seeking volunteers in South-East London, Bristol, Cornwall, Sheffield and Hastings for its recently-launched homelessness prevention programme, Citadel, which supports people experiencing, or at risk of homelessness, to find and establish a home.
The charity has been running Citadel across Wales since 2020 and the project has garnered much praise for its innovative and person-centred approach to homelessness, with figures showing that 90% of those referred to Citadel for support remained engaged in the project and 95% sustained their tenancies for at least 12 months after referral.
Following Citadel’s success in Wales, Housing Justice has launching Citadel in South-East London, Bristol, Cornwall, Sheffield and Hastings this summer. With Co-ordinators in place, the charity is now looking for volunteers to help people on their journey from homelessness to belonging.
The programme is volunteer-led and so provides an amazing opportunity for volunteers to play a fundamental part in changing someone’s life for the better. Once volunteers have been trained and DBS checked, Housing Justice matches them with a person in need of support, identifies their needs, and the volunteer then provides personalised support. This could be with finding and sustaining a tenancy, decorating and furnishing a home, managing bills and budgeting, joining a social club or community group, attending appointments, or just having a cup of coffee and a chat – it all depends on the individual.
George Butler, Head of Citadel England is keen to hear from anyone who would like to find out more: “We are delighted to have finalised our staff team and are very much looking forward to working with local volunteers to help alleviate homelessness.
“Our team in Wales has found volunteering with us to be a fun and fulfilling experience, with plenty of opportunity to socialise and make friends with like-minded people while changing people’s lives for the better. If you would like to find out more, please email [email protected] and have a look at our website for more information: www.housingjustice.org.uk/citadel-england
The expansion of Citadel is part of a three-year programme run by the Centre for Homelessness Impact and funded by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. This is supporting the introduction or extension of innovative responses to homelessness, and includes an independent evaluation of its impact, using a randomised controlled trial.
Note to Editors
Housing Justice is a small, highly influential national charity working to alleviate homelessness in all its forms. Our work makes a huge difference to thousands of people who stay at night shelters across the country, refugees being given a safe place to sleep within people’s homes, and those who are helped in some other way by our churches, faith and community groups, and their volunteers.
For further information or to arrange an interview, please email Jo on [email protected]
The Centre for Homelessness Impact (CHI) is a member of the What Works Network and advocates for an evidence-based approach to ending homelessness for good. CHI supports organisations in the field of homelessness and beyond to make evidence-led decisions and to adopt evidence-led practices. CHI is running the Test & Learn and Systems-wide Evaluation programme, funded by MHCLG, to evaluate the impact of new or innovative ways to homelessness prevent or relieve homelessness. You can register to receive updates from the Centre for Homelessness Impact about the evaluation of Citadel, as part of the test and learn pilots here.
