WISH (the West London Initiative on Single Homelessness) is a registered
charity working for the relief of poverty and sickness for homeless people
in the West London area. WISH is now in its eigth year of operation. The
Board of Trustees and the Management Committee continue to comprise volunteers,
many years' experience in the homeless sector
Our work
WISH aims to make a difference to the quality of life of homeless people
in a number of ways:
By offering practical help through our direct services.
By treating homeless people with the care and respect they rarely receive.
Using research to identify the services needed and tailoring them to local
needs.
By enabling volunteers and local communities gain new insights into the
issues involved by working with homeless people.
Direct services
The services WISH provides are well managed but informal. Past and planned
services are:
The Christmas Roof - 24 hour temporary accommodation
and services over the Christmas period, when the services normally available
to homeless people are closed.
advice, over the Christmas week at Cricklewood Homeless Concern.
The Breakfast Club- Working
with Cricklewood Homeless Concern to provide a Sunday breakfast service
and fill the present gap their in service provision.
Research
In order for the charity to more precisely tailor it's services to the
needs of homeless people in West London, WISH recognises the importance
of research. This can take several forms:
Specific projects - including
- a review of existing provision to determine what types
could be found and where for homeless people in West London, and where
the gaps in services were.
- an on-the-street survey of homeless people in the area. Rough sleepers
were asked their age, ethnic origin; how long they had been on the street;
where they had slept previously; if they claimed benefits or were registered
with a G.P; if they used drugs or alcohol; whether they had physical or
mental health problems, or a disability. They were also asked what services
they would like to see in the area.
- publication: “Tuberculosis Among Homeless People at a Temporary Shelter
in London” (M. Harding & N. Brown; The Journal of Epidemiology and
Community Health; April 1997 ,Vol 51 No2, p211)
Monitoring and Evaluation -
- a variety of data is collected during the Roof from medical
,dental, chiropody and advice records.
- feedback from both guests and volunteers in the form of questionaires.
Links with others -
- other homeless organisations in the area such as Cricklewood
Homeless Concern and Acton Homeless Concern.
- national charities such as Crisis.
- a briefing paper "Homelessness, From strategy to effective solutions,
What the Mayor of London can do to help"
- through volunteers at theRoof, such as doctors and dentists, who
often report back that the experience has changed their views on how to
deal with the medical problems of the homeless population and take back
what they have learnt to their normal place of work.
- WISH is a member of The Refugee and Asylum Seekers Community Liaison
Group of The London Borough of Hounslow.
- in the near future, WISH will be creating information packs tailored
to the needs of differing users, in response to increased requests to us,
and other organisations, for research data.
