Roof 2002
West London Initiative on Single Homelessness

For over thirty years the model of an “open access” twenty-four hour emergency shelter has served homeless people at Christmas. This has evolved over this time from simple accommodation with meals to the complex service provision we see now.

Today’s rough sleeper can expect to be offered shelter, food, advice, medical & dental services as well as a host of ancillary and complementary services in addition to a welcoming and safe environment.

During the time these shelters have been in operation and as a result of knowledge and experience gained, day centres have grown up, and now provide many of the services all year around once only available through the Christmas shelters. This has seen a quantum leap in the quality and quantity of services now on offer to those who are or are in danger of becoming homeless.

This has given rise, over the last few years, to the question of whether or not the “open access” short-term emergency shelter is still a relevant or effective option for homeless people.

With this in mind WISH decided to run a day centre type service only for Christmas 2002 and conduct research during the week. This was designed to test client satisfaction, demographic make up and overall effectiveness, and to compare it with previous research.
 

The Christmas Roof was open between 23rd December – 30th December in common with the other emergency shelters. The opening hours were 10:00a.m. - 6:00p.m. and the centre was open access during this time. With the exception of overnight accommodation the normal range of services was on offer.

The age profile and ethnic origin of our guests closely matched that of normal attendance at day centres in this area. Guests were provided with three hot meals each day with the main meal being served at lunchtime. On Christmas day a traditional roast turkey and Christmas pudding meal was served. Meal times proved to be very popular with many guests coming round for seconds and sometimes even thirds!

In addition to meals there was also available to guests, showers and baths, hairdressing and upper body massage
 

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Housing and benefits advice, medical and dental services are provided by Cricklewood Homeless Concern as part of their year round service to the homeless, figures for this are included in their annual report.

The day centre service was well received, and undoubtedly fulfilled a need in the area over Christmas. The research that WISH carried out during this period leads us to believe that the needs of the most vulnerable, the rough sleepers who are too damaged to access day centres, could possibly have been more fully met by a dedicated 24hr service. Accordingly it is the intention of WISH to return to providing a “traditional” open access 24hr a day service in 2003.

WISH would like to thank Cricklewood Homeless Concern for allowing us to use their facilities to provide this service and for all their assistance in the set up and clear up phases.