Hackney Doorways (the Charity that operates Hackney Winter Night Shelter) is delighted to announce that we have received funding from the London Mayor’s Rough Sleeping Innovation Fund to operate a 12-month pilot of a women’s night shelter.

With the aim of helping women who are rough sleeping or at risk of rough sleeping, the shelter will run from a 4/5 bedroom house in Hackney and can accommodate up to 10 women in shared rooms.  Each woman can stay with us for up to 90 days, during which time they will be supported to find more stable accommodation.  A female advocate worker will provide casework support and advocacy, helping people to access a wide range of support, depending on their individual needs. 

The house will be run in a similar way to our winter night shelters, whereby the shelter is mainly run by a group of volunteers and volunteer coordinators, who provide a hot meal in the evening, stay with our guests overnight and prepare a buffet breakfast in the morning. The women will be out during the day and encouraged to attend job search or training, volunteering, health and wellbeing activities, and develop social networks.

The women’s night shelter will accept referrals from our partner agencies in three boroughs:  Hackney, Waltham Forest and Haringey.  

Christina Ball, Acting Director of Hackney Doorways said:  

“We are so grateful to the GLA for their support of this new project. It is critical that we look to address the issue of women’s homelessness, and the new shelter will be specifically tailored to meet the needs of vulnerable women who would otherwise be sleeping on the streets, on night buses or searching for other places to try to remain hidden and avoid danger when they have no home to go to. 

Thanks to this grant, homeless women will be able to stay in a safe space and start to build a positive future away from the streets.’”

James Murray, Deputy Mayor for Housing & Residential Development, said: “We are very pleased to support Hackney Doorways in launching their new shelter which will offer women who may be sleeping rough a safe place to stay and help finding long-term accommodation. This will build on the great work Hackney Doorways already do in providing vital, tailored support to vulnerable women who need it most.”

 
NOTES FOR EDITORS

The Mayor's Rough Sleeping Innovation Fund aims to stimulate new and innovative approaches to tackling rough sleeping in the capital. The priorities for this fund reflect those set out in the pan-London Rough Sleeping Commissioning Framework, but with a focus on specific key issues. For more information visit: https://www.london.gov.uk/what-we-do/housing-and-land/homelessness/mayors-rough-sleeping-services
 
Hackney Doorways’ mission is to provide routes out of homelessness for those in need.  We operate Hackney Winter Night Shelter from November through to March. 
 
If you are a referral agency who would like to refer a guest, please email:  [email protected]

For general information about the women’s project, please contact [email protected]

 

Hackney Night Shelter is a Hackney Doorways project
Registered Charity number 1139183 Company number 07064774
The Old School Rooms, 2 Powerscroft Road, E5 0PU
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