#CharityTuesday In conversation with…C4WS

We spoke to Sam Forsdike, Welfare Manager of homeless charity C4WS, to find out how they are helping homeless people rebuild their lives

C4WS is a Camden based charity that supports those who become homeless. They run a winter night shelter that provides immediate respite and then they work with those guests in the shelter to help them secure housing and begin the process of rebuilding their lives. Last year, 91% of guests engaging with the Welfare Team successfully moved into accommodation.

In addition we also run a weekly Jobs Club to help guests obtain employment, training and education opportunities, weekly English Classes, wellbeing services such as osteopathy, massage and yoga, a weekly Friday Club that provides hot food, showers, hairdressing and welfare support to up to 50 people in need, a Mentoring and Befriending Programme to help guests leaving the shelter with the transition to independent living and Home From Home, a hosting project.

How has C4WS evolved?

“Since we were formed in 2005 we are constantly having to evolve to respond to the growing and changing impacts of homelessness. Last year, homelessness rose by 647% in Camden and as a project we receive four times as many calls for places in our shelter than we are able to offer.

Our night shelter has expanded both in terms of its capacity of beds each night and the length of time it stays open. Furthermore, we have developed from being a temporary winter shelter to an all year round project providing a range of holistic services that are both responsive and preventative.

For example, the formation of our Jobs Club four years ago was in anticipation of severe changes to benefits that we knew were going to cause a lot of issues for our guests. By anticipating this and offering a supportive path into financial independence through employment meant we had tangible solutions to help guests affected by the changes still exit homelessness. The popularity of having a tailor-made employability project attached to C4WS saw more than 50% of our guests access this support last year and 67% of guests eligible and looking for work successfully find employment through the Jobs Club.”

How are you adapting to the rising challenge of rough sleeping in the borough?

“One of the principal innovations to tackle the steep rise in homelessness is the launch of our hosting project, Home From Home. This is where volunteers with spare rooms host a guest from C4WS for a short-term period whilst we work on securing housing for them. This has been a hugely successful initiative which has seen generous volunteers not only provide a space in their home but also welcoming in our guests to be part of their household and families. Through this project we have been able to provide an additional 221 nights of accommodation which equates to a 10% increase in our capacity this year.

For guests supported through Home From Home this has provided a vital service that has enabled them to move on with the next stages of their life. From the gentleman starting work and saving up a deposit to move into his own studio flat to the young refugee woman needing a space to stay whilst her hostel accommodation was finalised, this has allowed us to reach more people in need and provide more stable solutions than ever before.

We firmly believe that hosting is a crucial aspect of our work and providing effective solutions to the challenges we face in the sector and the very limited resources available.”

What would you say is the most crucial part of the C4WS project?

“Our volunteers! Across all our projects we have more than 1000 dedicated, passionate and hardworking volunteers without whom we would not be able to operate.

As a small staff team of 3.5 people we depend on volunteers. At the shelter this might be making beds, cooking dinner, doing the laundry or providing companionship. At Jobs Club it is mentoring someone to achieve their employment goals through creating CVs, prepping them for interviews and helping rebuild their confidence. Friday Club sees a different team join us every week to cook a meal for 50 people — which is no mean feat. Volunteers on our Mentoring and Befriending programme meet weekly for six months with their mentees to help them transition to independent living and our hosts in Home From Home physically give their space and time to welcome in their guests.

Thank-you to every single one of you!”

Do you have an example of someone you’ve supported and the impact your help had?

“David is a 20 year old gentleman who came to our shelter last year as an asylum seeker. As part of a multi-agency coordination we supported him with his application to remain in the UK and he was granted refugee status and able to move into his own accommodation. Since then he has been studying and in September is due to start a degree in chemical engineering. Through our Jobs Club he gained part-time work with a retailer and has also recently completed an internship which has offered him further employment opportunities.

He is testament to the resilience and determination of the guests that come to our shelter at the worst point in their lives. Things have been turned upside down and most never believed they would ever end up in such a situation. Through the support of volunteers and staff we are able not just to help them into secure and stable housing but then start to achieve the dreams their talents and hard work deserve.”

Find out more about C4WS here.