About us

HARP is Southend’s leading homelessness charity. We provide housing, advice and support to over 1,000 people each year who either are experiencing homelessness or are at risk of losing their home. We help them lay foundations to rebuild their lives and end the need for rough sleeping for good.

A sudden increase in pressure – like losing work, a relationship breakdown or a mental health issue – can force people into homelessness. It is a diverse and complex issue, and many people that are homeless remain hidden; sofa surfing, sleeping rough away from danger, or living between places as and when the opportunity arises. 

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We help people lay the foundations to rebuild their lives and end the need for rough sleeping for good. Our support includes:

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• Street outreach – Working with Southend-on-Sea City Council our teams are out daily, working to help people who find themselves without a home and offering them opportunities to come in directly to our emergency accommodation.

• Providing accommodation for up to 300 people at a time that might otherwise be sleeping on the streets, all of whom have an action plan to help them manage and overcome the issues that might be surrounding their homelessness. At HARP, we have a tried and tested pathway to support people to move on to an independent life. We aim to provide tailored, innovative solutions for specific groups to get the best possible results and help as many people move on as possible. 

• Advice & support for people at risk of losing their homes. 

• Offering support 365 days a year to people sleeping rough through our Bradbury Day Centre. This is a warm and safe place in Southend where trained staff are on hand to provide support, food, clothing and link people to the right services.

We had over 10,000 visits and served 9600 breakfasts at the Bradbury Centre in the year ended March 2023, this service relies entirely on voluntary donations from our community to continue to operate. 

HARP also offers ongoing one-to-one support and works closely with partner agencies to provide a 360 degree approach to improving health, wellbeing, and housing. This support is tailored to an individual’s needs and could include finding permanent accommodation, building life skills such as cooking and budgeting; overcoming challenges such as addiction, mental or physical health conditions and, in time, helping people get back into work or training.  Some people’s problems will be solved quickly, whilst others will need our support for longer.