Far more than just somewhere to sleep
A SERVICE FOR HOMELESS IS TURNING AROUND PEOPLE’S LIVES AFTER LOCKDOWN LEFT THEM WITHOUT JOBS OR SHELTER
ASERVICE to help homeless people find longterm accommodation has turned around scores of lives. record number of referrals were being made to The Town House in Tameside before the pandemic – but then things got even worse.
Cassie Brincat, a co-ordinator at the service in Ashton, said: “Maybe a relationship had broken down, or pre-Covid someone was sleeping on another person’s sofa, but during Covid they were pushed out and found themselves homeless.”
Cassie says it was a ‘logistical challenge’ to provide everyone with the support they needed. Only eight people could stay in The Town House when it first opened in summer 2020, with the facility usually having a capacity of 40, while others who were homeless were able to stay in separate properties.
Tony Andrews was one of the many people who hit hardship due to coronavirus. The 35-year-old was a casual worker in the events security industry – but with no work in lockdown, he was unable to make ends meet.
He said: “I had gone from earning about £1,500 a month to not having any work at all, furlough wasn’t offered to people in casual employment. It destroyed my life.
“Because I was under 35, my benefits did not cover rent and bills, so I couldn’t keep the property. A friend of mine got in contact with The Town House team and to be honest, if it was not for them I would be screwed.”
Tony is now in supported housing and volunteers six days a week at The Station Hotel, where Pauline Town has been providing food for those in need for seven years. Pauline was recently awarded an MBE for her efforts – and was the inspiration for The Town House’s name.
Even in the most challenging times of the Covid pandemic, Tameside’s homelessness team was seeing success. A rough sleeper count in July 2020 – the national standard used to measure rough sleeping – revealed there were zero across Tameside at the time, and those who are rough sleeping now are known to The Town House.
The facility provides support to those who are not eligible for statutory emergency provision. The strict criteria for eligibility means The Town House is a safety net for many people who previously would have fallen through the cracks.
Each person through the door is assigned a key worker and has an assessment of their needs – from checking whether they have benefits in place and a GP assigned, to issues such as relationship problems, childhood trauma or addiction. Cassie said: “At the point people come in they won’t necessarily disclose everything to us. We’ve got to earn their trust.”
Key workers are crucial to building up trust between the team at The Town House and those who use the service. They include staff with plenty of experience in social work, as well as workers who can draw on their own experiences to help others.
Kevin Murphy struggled with alcohol for 30 years and at one time he ‘lived in a bin.’
He has now been sober for seven years, and after volunteering for the previous service which supported his efforts to get clean, he became a key worker at The Town House.
“I enjoyed drinking but it spiralled out of control,” Kevin said. “I lost my house, my partner, I couldn’t carry on with it any more. It was recovery or jumping off a bridge.
“I’ve been there and I can tell others my experience. It puts a good bond between you with trust and hope – they don’t believe it when they see me now.”
Once a relationship has been built up, the team at The Town House are able to see what barriers could get in the way of someone making a successful fresh start at their new home. It’s a process the team now have honed to a fine art – meaning they are able to support more people, more efficiently.
While The Town House is home to Tameside’s shelter for A Bed Every Night, it’s far more than just somewhere to sleep. Nurses hold drop-in ‘MOT’ clinics for service users, while The Town House works with voluntary groups under the Stronger Together Tameside banner.
Crucially, key workers stay in touch with those they have helped, and people who have moved into accommodation can get in touch for extra support – whether that’s for dealing with bills or their mental health, or just for a catch-up. Kim says it is vital to build up that trust as a key worker – and rewarding to ‘see the impact’ the team have.
“They learn about you, they put their trust in you,” she said. “In a lot of services there is a high staff turnover – if someone was on probation for 12 months, they could have three different officers, they don’t get to develop that relationship.”
The building itself has dormitories with 40 beds in total, plus toilets and showers, and secure lockers for people staying over to use. A large kitchen downstairs provides meals cooked by the Veterans
Food Company, which supports armed forces veterans struggling with their mental health by providing training and opportunities.
There is a security check for people entering The Town House, with service users signing a behavioural agreement. Drugs and alcohol are not permitted, while the bathrooms are lit in blue to make sure people cannot inject their veins.
The dormitories are only open from 7pm to 9am, with the idea being that those who stay at The Town House will be encouraged to get the support they need to move on to permanent accommodation rather than remain at the building. Tony added: “With electricity and gas prices rocketing, with lockdown and everything people have gone through, this provision needs to reach out to all areas. It’s great for Tameside but other places need to take a leaf out of these guys’ book and put these services in other towns and cities across the country.
“Without these guys we would be lost. Homelessness doesn’t just affect people with drug and alcohol issues – you are only one pay cheque away from being homeless.”