Michelle was joined by Emma Hughes, Support Hub Manager at Sanctus to talk about the charities work and their big move.
INTERVIEW
WHAT DOES SANCTUS DO FOR THE HOMELESS AND VULNERABLE?
Sanctus is a charity based in Chelmsford and the only day centre serving the homeless and vulnerable in a significant part of Essex. We are open 7 days a week, 365 days a year.
We have remained operational throughout the pandemic, and despite being a charity, we have been deemed an essential service. Our service user base ranges from 200-250 people, all with a range of complex needs.
We work with some of the most marginalised people in our community who feel comfortable to come to us to ask for help, meaning we can make sure that they access the help they need. Our aim is to prevent homelessness by supporting individuals to take positive steps forward.
In the Sanctus café, we provide for free:
- A safe and warm environment where individuals, who have nowhere else to go, feel comfortable to come and request help.
- Daily freshly prepared, nutritious meals which are served alongside hot and cold drinks, snacks, sandwiches, pastries and items from our food bank style service. In 2020, we served over 16,900 meals.
- We also distribute clothes, tents, sleeping bags, toiletries and other essential items. Over 200 benefited from this service in 2020.
Located on the floors above the Sanctus café, our Support Hub provides a range of free vital services:
- 1-2-1 mentoring, assistance with gaining housing and sustaining tenancies, benefits applications, medical signposting, furnishing homes, addiction and mental health support, health and wellbeing advice and support services, enrichment activities, training courses, CV workshops, and a range of advice and advocacy services. Working alongside numerous different agencies, helping to build an eco-system of support for our clients.
- Over 1,100 free support sessions were completed in 2020, the importance and outcomes from these sessions cannot be overestimated. Especially throughout the pandemic, with many of our clients suffering from deteriorating mental health and severe financial hardship. Just one session may mean that someone completes a benefits form, reobtains their ID, decides against drastic steps or receives help or advice with their challenges. These all help to progress or further progress their journey in a positive way. Many of these support sessions were completed over the phone or in socially distanced meetings in our courtyard.
- In 2020, the Sanctus Hub Support team assisted in the re-housing of scores individuals, 10 individuals were directly re-housed into fully furnished housing where Sanctus provided kitchen goods, furniture and other items for their new home. Numerous evictions were prevented through our tenancy sustainment programme which ensures individuals do not end up back on the streets
