Our Transitions project is one!
We recently celebrated a successful first year of our Transitions project, which is helping long-term rough sleepers move away from the streets for good, by hosting a special open afternoon for supporters and those involved in the project.
We help over 1,000 people each year and provide 174 bed spaces to local people who would otherwise be homeless. Our Transitions project is part of The Big Lottery’s nationwide Fulfilling Lives programme, set up to track and evaluate successful support for people with more than one complex need, including homelessness, reoffending, substance misuse and mental ill health.
The Transitions Project is focussed on supporting long-term rough sleepers who have complex needs, and accommodates up to 27 people. In this project we adopt a progressive approach to supporting people with complex needs that is similar to the Housing First model. Housing First has had huge success in helping people overcome homelessness, as well as any accompanying difficulties like mental ill health, and drug and alcohol misuse, in Finland and Denmark.
Our project in in Southend is providing a stable home to people so that they have the space and time that they need to recover and move away from homelessness for good. In its first year, we have had a number of successes, including helping 20 people move on to other HARP accommodation and places of their own, and encouraging seven residents to volunteer, who are now inspiring their peers to take steps towards recovery.
Our Chief Executive, Gill Garwood, said: “We are so pleased with the results of the Transitions project’s first year. We are working hard to ensure that everyone who walks through our doors at The Bradbury Day Centre is able to access support that is tailored to their own individual needs.
“Long-term rough sleepers often have complex issues surrounding their homelessness, so it is fantastic to see so many people doing so well thanks to the Transitions project. We would like to say thank you to The Big Lottery for helping to make the project possible and thanks also to everyone that came down to help celebrate a year of hard work from our staff, volunteers and residents.”
