Charity Number 1158760
THE SHELTER PROJECT HOUNSLOW
TRUSTEES’ DRAFT ANNUAL REPORT
AND ACCOUNTS FOR THE FINANCIAL YEAR TO 31 AUGUST 2024
The Shelter Project Hounslow was awarded The Queen's Award for Voluntary Service in 2017
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Introduction
The Shelter Project Hounslow (TSPH) was formed in January 2012 to bring together Christian churches across the London Borough of Hounslow to provide a shelter for homeless men across the borough on every night of the week over the coldest months of the year.
Each evening, our volunteers welcomed rough-sleeping homeless men into their warm church or church hall and provided them with friendly company over a hot meal, a comfortable bed for the night, a good breakfast in the morning and even a bus ticket to the following evening’s church venue.
This initiative was funded by the participating churches, their church communities and some generous individuals and local businesses. In addition, volunteers gave their time for free and many of them who cooked did not seek reimbursement for the cost of the meals they prepared.
The London Borough of Hounslow (LBH) referred homeless men to TSPH and made a much-needed grant towards our engagement of a part-time project co-ordinator.
Just before the October 2019 to March 2020 season, we learned that LBH would not be referring any homeless men to us, nor contributing any grant towards our costs that winter season.
Fortunately, we had sufficient funds to be able to open our doors in December 2019, as soon as our then project co-ordinator had recruited sufficient carefully vetted guests.
By March 2020, Covid-19 was a growing concern. We decided reluctantly that we would have to end the season early and say goodbye to our guests on the morning of Sunday 22[nd] March 2020.
On that day, the government’s ‘everyone in’ policy came into effect and local authorities were obliged to accommodate the homeless. The first lock down was declared the next day.
A communal shelter with shared facilities like ours was never going to be Covid-19 compliant. By August 2021, it was becoming clear that we would not be able to operate as a shelter for the foreseeable future. We needed to find a new operating model.
Café Together
We launched this initiative as a pilot in June 2022 at the Methodist church in Bell Road, Hounslow with the help of volunteers from St Mary’s Osterley.
This initiative is focussed on the vulnerable in society more generally, including those at risk of homelessness, with the intention of helping them to address their difficulties before the crisis stage.
They are welcomed to a café style venue where they can enjoy a hot meal in friendly, nonjudgemental company and, if necessary, be sign-posted to agencies which may be able to help them.
LBH’s Community Solutions Team were invited to all meetings of Café Together from the pilot as it was always our intention to offer a service aligned and consistent with their objectives.
Local councillors and social workers from LBH have been regular attendees.
Ideally, we would have two hubs, one in Hounslow and another in Chiswick.
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Café Together, September 2023 to August 2024
----- Start of picture text -----
Hounslow Chiswick
September 2023
October 2023 SS Michael’s & Martin’s, RC Bath Rd
Mondays 2 [ND] ,9 [TH] ,16 [TH] 23 [RD ] & 30 [TH]
November 2023 Bell Road Methodists
Thursdays 9 [th] , 16 [th,] ,23 [rd] & 30 [th]
December 2023 Bell Road Methodists
Thursdays 7 [th] , 14 [th] , 21 [st]
(incl. a Christmas meal on 21 [st] )
January 2024 Bell Road Methodists
Thursdays 4 [th] , 11 [th] , 18 [th] & 25 [th]
February 2024 St John’s CofE Isleworth
Wednesdays 7 [th] , 14 [th] , 21 [st ] & 28 [th]
March 2024 St John’s CofE Isleworth
Wednesdays 6 [th] , 13 [th] , 20 [th] & 27 [th]
April 2024 SS Michael’s & Martin’s, RC Bath Rd
Mondays 4 [th] ,11 [th] , 18 [th] & 25 [th]
May 2024 Bell Road Methodists
Thursday 9 [th] , 16 [th] , 23 [rd ] & 30 [th]
June 2024 Bell Road Methodists
Thursday 6 [th] , 13 [th] , 20 [th] & 27 [th]
July 2024 Bell Road Methodists St Michael’s CofE Elmwood Rd
Mondays 1 [st] , 8 [th] , 15 [th] , 22 [nd] & 29 [th]
Thursdays 4 [th] , 11 [th ] & 18 [th]
August 2024
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As this table shows, we managed to operate Café Together for ten months of the year at three venues which now form a hub, each not being too distant from the centre of Hounslow.
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October 2023
Cafe Together at St Michael and St Martin’s (SSM&M)
After the summer months when we do not operate due to volunteers taking holidays, we were delighted to open Café together on Monday evenings over the month of October 2023.
We promoted this run of Café Together by distributing A5 Posters and a Press Release.
In addition, our chairman issued personal Invitations by email or text to all our regular guests. This was popular with our guests with many saying they liked receiving a personal invitation. Local councillors were also invited.
An update was also sent to all venue clergy from the days of the original Shelter Project.
The October run at St Michael and St Martins gathered momentum. The atmosphere in the Parish Centre is very good and many people made new friends. The last three weeks were very successful. The number of guests increased from 19 to 27 with more regular guests and new guests each week.
There is a great team at SSM&M. Father Damian, Father Ignatius and the Parish Council are all very supportive.
Councillor Ranjit Gill came most weeks and helped the guests and Jane Malik of the LBH Community team was also a regular attendee.
November 2023 to January 2024 on Thursday evenings
Hounslow Methodist Church, Bell Road
Thus was an exceptionally good season. We now have a core group of regular guests who all get on well with each other and the volunteers are a team who care for the guests and work well together.
Conversations have become more open. Guests have mentioned their problems (the cold, getting a response from the housing association etc.) Jane Malik spoke to all the guests and Councillor Gill mingled as an excellent volunteer and was always willing to support as a local councillor too.
We now know many of our guests quite well and understand their needs. These are people who have problems that we can help them with. Many are in ‘hotels’ but, although they have accommodation, they do not have adequate cooking facilities.
February to March 22024 on Wednesday evenings
St John’s Church of England, Isleworth
Since opening, Cafe Together at St John’s has never had fewer than 26 guests.
This is another excellent venue with an atmosphere of its own.
Some elderly parishioners attend, seemingly just for the company, rather than for a free meal.
The vicar has been an excellent champion of Café Together, encouraging these parishioners to attend and giving some a lift in his car on occasion. He even provides musical entertainment!
We were sorry to learn that the last Cafe Together of this run would be the last attended by the Vicar as he would be leaving on Easter Sunday and there will now be an interregnum.
Despite the Vicar leaving, there was still a core team of volunteers at St John’s who we hope will continue to support Cafe Together.
April 2024 on Monday evenings
SSM&M (Saints Michael & Martin, Roman Catholic Church, Hounslow)
Café Together at this venue went well again on Mondays over April.
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The regular cook cooked the meal, except one evening when pizzas were provided by a pizza restaurant for free...
Each venue attracts guests from its own church but, as SSM&M is not far from Bell Road, the “Hounslow hub” is beginning to work. Several regular guests at Bell Road now attend at this venue too. And increasingly, SSM&M parishioners attend at Bell Road. This means that more momentum is maintained as we switch from one venue to the other and guest numbers tend to increase over the course of each run.
We hope that SSM&M will be able to take another one month slot after the summer break, hopefully from mid-September so that Hounslow Methodist can then take over for the inter months.
May to late July 2024 on Thursday evenings
Hounslow Methodist Church, Bell Road
This was yet another successful run at Bell Road Methodist Church, the mainstay of Café Together.
It has been good to see that many long-standing regulars at Bell Road being joined by new regulars from SSM&M.
This three-month run took us up to the school holiday summer break.
July 2024 St Michael’s CofE church, Elmwood Road Chiswick, Mondays at lunch time
This, our only venue in Chiswick, is different from the Hounslow venues as the meal is served at lunch time. Also, the church is busy with a pre-school group that meets in the church, near the long table on which lunch is served. It is entertaining to see the younger children running about.
The lunch time slot also seems to be more convenient for many of the local volunteers.
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The Shelter Project Hounslow’s balance sheet
The only significant item on the TSPH’s balance sheet is the sum of money held in the bank.
The £21,050.10 in Net assets at the end of our financial year, on 31[st] August 2024 was all held in cash at the bank.
Net Assets were £1,040.82 higher at the year-end than they had been a year before. This increase is explained by the net income (or surplus of income over operating expenditure) as shown in the Statement of Financial Activities (SOFA) to 31[st] August 2024.
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Café Together does not seem to have the same appeal to donors as providing shelter for the homeless over the coldest months of winter. However, we are sufficiently supported by our church communities and a few generous individuals and businesses.
Our operating costs are low because everything is done by unpaid volunteers. More often than not, the kind people who provide the food do so at their own expense.
At one church where the cooks claim expenses, the parish has made a donation which will be sufficient to cover food costs at their venue. This donation is shown as restricted funds form a church community in the balance sheet.
The only expense in the year to August 2024 which was not related to charitable activities but is shown as ‘other’ was the cost of the public liability insurance policy.
In the previous year there was also the £395 cost of the annual subscription to Housing Justice.
Conclusion
Café Together is now well established in Hounslow but it is only getting started in Chiswick. Our financial position is satisfactory as volunteers provide so much labour for free.
We conclude the year looking forward to the next.
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Trustees and Steering Group
The Steering Group members overseeing the operations of TSPH are:-
Jennifer Corbin – Chairman, Trustee and Member of the Steering Group
Bill Hodgson - Trustee
Steve Joyce - Trustee and Member of the Steering Group
Mary Macleod - Trustee and Member of the Steering Group
Tony Mobbs – Trustee
Jack Emsley – Member of the Steering Group
Margaret Logan – Member of the Steering Group
Peter Simons – Treasurer and Member of the Steering Group and Treasurer
Contact details:
Jennifer Corbin, Chairman of the Board of Trustees, The Shelter Project Hounslow
Email: jpcorbin195@btinternet.com
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