CARE SHELTER ANNUAL REPORT 2016-2017 RegisteredCare Scottish Shelter AnnualCharity Report 2016-2017 1 June 2017 No. SC003783 A CARE SHELTER POEM The homeless man. Why is he homeless? Why doesn’t he get a job? Well... He had a good job; he had a beautiful wife, Depression hit him and destroyed his life. Drugs took control when he started drinking, Into a hole, he kept on sinking. His wife left him, he was out in the cold, He lost everything when addiction took hold. Nowhere to turn, he was lost and alone, Out in the street, no wife, no home. Nowhere to turn, no place to go, He thought he would die here, out in the snow. Don’t know what happened or where he went wrong, He had everything and now it’s all gone. Life had no purpose, he could only think why. His only desire was to give up and die. He got down on his knees and began to pray, “Help me Jesus, show me the way.” He heard someone calling from out of nowhere. “Come with me for shelter and care, Come with me for a meal and a bed, A place that is warm, where you can rest your head.” Who are those people who showed him the light? Showed him some love and a bed for the night. Those are the people, who cared so much, Those are the people with the God-loving touch. Who is the man that it all happened to? It’s one step away from happening to you. So don’t judge a man, who sleeps on the street, He just needs a help to get back on his feet. God bless the Care Shelter that helped him so much, God bless those people with the God-loving touch. Care Shelter Annual Report 2016-2017 2 June 2017 CONTENTS Executive Summary 4 6 Introduction, Aim, Operational context Church and volunteer overview 7 12 Staffing Nightly timetable 13 15 Partnership working Attendance 22 31 Monitoring forms and analysis 43 Finance Feedback and qualitative updates 45 Conclusion 49 51 Appendices Appendix A: Care Shelter posters 1-5 51 56 Appendix B: Further comments Photos - All images used with consent. Care Shelter Annual Report 2016-2017 3 June 2017 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This was the 21st winter that the Care Shelter operated in Edinburgh. It was another very successful season with an incredibly strong staff team, a huge effort from the churches and volunteer teams and the provision of 9,251 bed spaces. We are thankful to God for enabling us to support so many people in crisis. Operational Context The Care Shelter was open every night of the week from 9 October 2016 - 23 April 2017, one week longer than the previous season. There were 45 bed spaces available for 146 nights and this increased to 60 spaces for 50 nights from 15 December until 2 February. Church & Volunteer Overview Involved this season were 25 venues and over 1000 volunteers from 73 different catering teams; 67 churches and 6 non-church teams. Staffing The staff team consisted of two team leaders, four full-time project workers and two part- time project workers. A part-time deputy manager was recruited to support the project for eight months. Partnership Working Nine agencies visited the Care Shelter 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 accessed independently. Attendance 706 individuals accessed the shelter during the 2016-17 season. An average of 48.8 people attended each night which resulted in 9,565 presentations. An average of 47 people stayed over per night. Monitoring Forms & Analysis Gender: 16% female, 84% male. Age: The mean age was 39. Reason for homelessness: Relationship breakdown was again the main reason identified for homelessness, often coupled with another expressed reason. Eviction, no local connection, being labelled intentionally homeless and losing benefits are reasons that were on the increase. Length of time homeless: A growing proportion of those using the service had been homeless for less than a week. Most recent accommodation: 37% of people reported sleeping rough the previous night. There were small increases in the number of people who had stayed with family/friends or been in a B&B or hostel. Clients’ only alternative to Care Shelter that night: 95% said their only other option was sleeping out. Nationalities: The vast majority are British (72%). Finance The total expenditure was £220,356 and the total restricted income £169,892. The difference in these figures of £50,464 was met through additional income streams such as Retail, Caring Christmas Trees, the Big Sleep Out and general fundraising. Feedback and Qualitative Updates It is quite emotional to read the comments passed on to staff across the course of the season, for example: “Thank you for saving my life tonight, I could not handle sleeping outside.” Care Shelter Annual Report 2016-2017 4 June 2017 Recommendations for 2017-18 1. Increase venue capacity: With help from the churches, have a concentration of larger venues for a longer period (three months from 1 December–28 February) allowing capacity for the coldest months to be increased to 60. 2. Improve digital forms: Make changes to the digital forms used to register people and to report each evening so as to make them more useful and easier to use. 3. Reduce waste: Source a greener alternative to polystyrene and plastic disposable tableware. Wash blankets more often to decrease the number that are thrown out. Conclusion & Longer Term 1. Rough Sleeping levels continue to rise: The level of rough sleeping in Edinburgh is not abating; the number of presentations, bed spaces provided and unique individuals at the Care Shelter are all increasing. The broad reasons for this increase, combined with the complex set of factors that have individually resulted in rough sleeping are outlined in various ways throughout this report. 2. Our response must rise to meet increased levels: At Bethany we have a resolve that radical action is required to turn the tide. We work to prevent homelessness; we also provide homes and support for people to sustain meaningful lives; and crucially in this project we intervene in crisis to lift people out from the desperate existence of sleeping rough on the streets. In view of the current crisis of rough sleeping levels in Edinburgh, with no signs of reduction, we will be aiming to develop support for a longer term Care Shelter that operates potentially up to year round as a centre of Christian compassion and excellence, offering as it does already, overnight shelter, warmth, care, safety, dignified catered meals, advice & support, inter agency partnership, and on-site access to relevant services to support people out of homelessness. 3. We will work for change: We will continue to highlight to National and Local Government potential solutions to the crisis and will partner with the Church, Statutory and Voluntary agencies to reduce the number of people sleeping rough on our streets. Care Shelter Annual Report 2016-2017 5 June 2017 1 INTRODUCTION From its beginning as a two week pilot project in 1996, the Care Shelter has grown to cover the coldest months. At the recommendation of this report last year, it was lengthened by a further week to 28 weeks. We offered the essential provision of a safe place to sleep and a hot meal in partnership with 72 different churches from around Edinburgh, the Lothians and surrounding areas. Individuals who would otherwise be sleeping rough were welcomed into a caring, safe environment where they were treated with dignity and love. “This place is so peaceful compared to some others I've been to.” The purpose of this report is to give an account of the work carried out and, by considering some of the findings, recognise trends, patterns of use and need within the city. Throughout the operation of the Care Shelter an online monitoring form was used to help us to assess these trends and patterns. This year has again been a busy season with the Care Shelter being full to capacity on a number of occasions. Despite this, a great sense of peace has characterised the season; the quietness and peacefulness in a hall with 45 people in it, with still 20 minutes until lights out has been quite remarkable. “It's great that you guys (staff) have made the service users feel so comfortable they can fall asleep even before lights are out.” Comment from a volunteer. 2 AIM Through showing Christian love in action the Edinburgh Care Shelter aims to provide a warm, safe and secure overnight place to sleep for those who would otherwise be rough sleeping; to offer hot nutritious meals and beverages; to provide high quality advice, guidance and signposting; and to treat each person with genuine care, respect and dignity. These four service aims are underpinned by an overall objective to provide opportunity of access to a wide range of partner agencies on site, thereby assisting individuals to gain more appropriate accommodation and improved personal outcomes. 3 OPERATIONAL CONTEXT People who access the Care Shelter have nowhere else to turn. Often they have exhausted other options—friends, family or hostels—or did not have these as options to begin with. As a result, there is a high level of vulnerability and risk associated with many of our guests. This can be seen in the levels of addiction and mental health disorders. People who use the service are asked to give their name upon entry but even if a false name is offered, they will still be able to gain access.