CARE SHELTER ANNUAL REPORT 2017-2018 Registered Scottish Charity No. SC003783 “It is important that I am made to feel welcome and that staff here actually care about me. It's more than just hot foodand a warm place to sleep at night, it is knowing that you guys care about me.” Bethany Christian Trust Registered Scottish Charity No. SC003783 65 Bonnington Road Edinburgh EH6 5JQ 0131 561 8930 2 CONTENTS Executive Summary 4 OPERATIONAL BACKGROUND 1. Introduction 2. Aim 3. Operational context 8 4. Church and volunteer overview 11 5. Staffing 14 6. Nightly timetable 15 7. Finance 16 IMPACT 8. Partnership working 20 9. Feedback and qualitative updates 24 STATISTICS 10. Attendance 28 11. Monitoring forms and analysis 33 12. Conclusion 46 APPENDICES Appendix A: Care Shelter posters 1-3 50 Appendix B: Visiting partners full reports 53 Quotes found throughout the report were said by people staying at the Care Shelter. Photos - all images used with consent. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY “I really appreciate all that you have done for me. You guys chat, listen, encourage, support, love. And you do all this and expect nothing back in return.” The winter of 2017-18 was a cold one that saw the highest number of people accessing the Care Shelter in its 22 years of operation. Thanks to additional funding received part-way through the season, the Shelter capacity was increased and everyone was accommodated from then on. We thank God for this provision and for His goodness to us; in allowing us to serve in this way and enabling us to support so many people in crisis. Operational Context See page 8 The Care Shelter was open every night of the week from 9 October 2017 - 22 April 2018; 28 weeks in total. There were 45 bed spaces available per night from 9 October until 1 December when capacity increased. Additional funding from the Scottish Government and Social Bite allowed an increase in capacity to 75 people per night. This meant that no one had to be turned away. Over 91,500 bed spaces have been provided at the Care Shelter across the 22 winters it has been open. Church & Volunteer Overview See page 11 Involved this season were 16 venues and over 1,000 volunteers from 71 different catering teams; 69 churches and 2 non-church teams. For the first time in its history, the Care Shelter was located in one venue for a period of 15 weeks. Meadowbank Church being large, could accommodate 75 people and was available for this period. Churches that had signed up to host the Care Shelter were very gracious when bookings were cancelled and they shared our vision to be able to accommodate everyone who would otherwise have been rough sleeping. The Care Shelter heavily depends on the support of the churches and other volunteers who turn up night after night to cook nutritious meals and open up their venues for our use. Thank you to all who are involved. Staffing See page 14 The staff team consisted of two team leaders, four full-time project workers and three part- time project workers. Following the increase in capacity a further project worker was on shift throughout the night. Finance See page 16 The total expenditure up till financial year end in March 2018 was £225,531 and the total restricted income was £225,315 showing a difference of -£216. This is the first time that the Care Shelter has been delivered on a break even model and this is due to the incredible support and giving that the project has benefitted from this year. We also received funding for April 2018 to continue full delivery up till planned closing date of 22 April 2018. Partnership Working See page 20 Eight agencies visited the Care Shelter regularly over the winter period providing medical services and various forms of housing support and advice. Many people linked in with these services and accessed help that they would not have acquired independently. The presence of the various services at the Care Shelter also helped to breakdown barriers and create relationships. People were encouraged that services came out to meet them where they were. 4 Feedback and Qualitative Updates It is quite emotional to read the comments passed on to staff across the course of the “This is the first time anyone has shown hope in me.” “You guys saved my life. Changed my life.” season, for example: For more comments and for Paul’s story, page 24-25 Tim’s story, page 18 Howard’s story, page 26 Karen’s story, page 32 Attendance See page 28 Attendance at the Care Shelter is analysed in section 10 in terms of number of nightly presentations and additionally the number of unique individuals who stayed at the Care Shelter over the winter. 722 individuals accessed the Care Shelter during the 2017-18 season. An average of 42.6 people attended each night which resulted in 8,330 presentations. The number of presentations was down this winter from 9,565 the previous season to 8,330, as was the average length of stay—from 13.6 to 11.3 nights. The improvements in these statistics are because fewer individuals stayed at the Care Shelter for more than half the season (99 nights or more). This number halved, from 3.6% in 2016-2017 to 1.8% this season. This is encouraging and shows that the measures implemented on the back of the HRSAG (see section 3.1) recommendations have had an impact. If these changes had not occurred, the number of presentations and the average length of stay would have exceeded the previous winter’s attendance. 33% of people stayed only one night at the Care Shelter across the winter, and 70% stayed for seven nights or less. 80% of individuals who stayed this winter had not attended the Care Shelter in the preceding two seasons. Only 2% of the total number of attendees across the last three seasons stayed at the Care Shelter in all three seasons. Monitoring Forms & Analysis See page 33 Gender: 18% female, 82% male. There was an increase in the number of women staying at the Care Shelter. Age: The mean age was 39 with the youngest being 16 and the oldest 77. There was an increase in the number of young people staying at the Care Shelter. Nationalities: 68% British, 27% rest of Europe, 5% rest of the world. There is a gap in service provision for non UK nationals which results in people staying homeless for longer. Reason for homelessness: Relationship breakdown was again the main reason identified for homelessness, often coupled with another expressed reason. Eviction and attendees having no local connection were reasons given that increased significantly this season. Length of time homeless: The largest proportion of those using the service had been homeless for less than a week when they first presented. This group stayed longer on average this season than last, suggesting that it is now harder to access immediate help when becoming homeless. Most recent accommodation: 37% of people reported sleeping rough the previous night. Guests’ only alternative to Care Shelter that night: 95% said their only other option was sleeping out. Length of time in Edinburgh: 48% of guests had been in Edinburgh for more than 5 years, 22% had been in the city less than a week. 5 Homeless presentations to the council: 50% of people attending the Care Shelter for the first time had not presented to the council as homeless. This points to confusion about what to do when people first become homeless and the number of barriers that prevent people from approaching the council for help. 36% of attendees had been directed to the Care Shelter by the council because no suitable accommodation was available for them. This is a shocking finding and shows the pressures of a housing shortage. Conclusions See page 46 1. HRSAG (The Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Action Group) recommendations had an impact: Initiatives such as the Hopetoun direct access hostel, the Inter- agency Street Network and personalised budgets all contributed to the reduction in the average length of stay at the Care Shelter. Additionally, the Care Shelter could not have accommodated the presenting individuals without the major grant injections to support the staffing for a larger capacity venue. We very much hope that these efforts can be continued. Providing people with more options and ways to move forward has a huge impact for those with chaotic lifestyles or those for whom there are barriers to them accessing housing via the usual routes. 2. Rough sleeping numbers continue to rise: Without the above initiatives, presentations at the Care Shelter would have likely been the highest ever (over 10,000—see section 10.4). This winter also saw 722 individuals access the Care Shelter which was an increase in unique individuals on the previous season, revealing the scale of the challenge that exists in Edinburgh. 3. There is a gap in service provision for non-UK nationals: Some people are excluded from particular public funds because of their nationality or immigration status. This is a barrier to them moving on from homelessness as is evident at the Care Shelter. However, there are many more Brits that stay in the Shelter than non-UK nationals and on average they stay for eight nights compared to 19 for non-UK nationals. Recommendations for 2018-19 1. Increased capacity: The Care Shelter is the last option for many people when they have not been able to get temporary accommodation from the council.