We’re proud of everything we achieved in 2021, including supporting more people than ever before. It’s thanks to your generous donations that we were able to support them. We can’t thank you enough.
As an independent charity with no government or local authority funding, we couldn’t do our work without you. It’s thanks to you that we can offer support to people experiencing homelessness.
In 2021 we’ve helped more people who’ve unfortunately found themselves homeless and with nowhere to turn. We’ve campaigned on behalf of our clients and given them a voice in our organisation for the first time.
In 2021, we were still out there.
2021 began in another lockdown, but it was business as usual for our team. We were still out there on the frontline, supporting people experiencing homelessness. The pandemic has had a huge effect on many, as people lost their jobs or faced homelessness, some for the first time. We saw an increased demand for the support we offer, and the number of referrals we received doubled. More and more people found themselves homeless, not knowing where to turn.
Being there for those with nowhere to turn.
For European migrants classed as having no recourse to public funds (NRPF), housing support, benefits or even emergency accommodation isn’t available to them, even if they’re homeless. Our team has continued to support people with No Recourse to Public funds. In 2021, we’ve seen over half of our clients with NRPF achieve settled status, which is simply fantastic. This means they can start receiving housing support and move towards living in a place of their own.
Campaigning for the people we support.
As an independent charity, Simon on the Streets has used its voice to raise awareness of the issues people experiencing homelessness face. When the government published guidance on immigration rules which would allow them to refuse or cancel permission to stay on the grounds of rough sleeping, we joined other charities to voice our concerns and stand against it. We also supported the scrapping of the vagrancy act, working hard to raise awareness of this locally.
Giving our clients a voice.
In 2021 our first co-production lead joined the team, to ensure we include the voices of the people we support in our work. Our clients have been involved in focus groups to discuss how services, including ourselves, can better support people experiencing homelessness. We also had clients take part in our recruitment and selection process for the first time.
In the last 12 months we have responded to increased calls for support from more people than ever before. We’ve helped clients with no recourse to public funds, who often have nowhere else to turn. We were out there during the lockdown at the start of the year. And, we’ve campaigned for the issues that are important to our clients. Our work has only been possible thanks to each one of you that supported us last year.
As we look forward to 2022, we need your support now more than ever. Homelessness is on the rise and more people need our help. How many hours you can give?