Quakers Report 2010 Open Xmas

11 Clarendon Buildings, 25 Horsell Road, London N5 1XL Telephone: 020 7700-2498 Fax: 020 7700-2542

W: www.piliontrust.org.uk B:http://piliontrust.blogspot.com

Part of the Pilion Trust, who provide services to local communities for vulnerable people and families with alcohol, drug and mental health problems

The Pilion Trust Ltd is a Company Limited by Guarantee Registered Company No.6043010 England & Wales

And a Registered Charity Registration 1122628

Shelter me!

QUAKERS HOUSING ACTION

OPEN CHRISTMAS SHELTERS

UNION CHAPEL and CALLY METHODIST CHURCH

23.12.10 – 30.12.10 & 30.12.09 to 10.1.11 Introduction

QHA and the Pilion Trust agreed the principal aims and objectives for Quakers

Open Christmas during October 2010, with a further review in November

regarding the youth provision.

The principal objectives of the Substance Misuse Service were to: -

Assess guests with alcohol and /or drug issues.

Advise and inform guests of available services within the catchment

area, and what support is on offer to guests wanting to take control of

the current substance use and change their street life-styles.

Work in partnership with Quaker Volunteers to maximise resources for

the most entrenched and vulnerable.

Provide Harm Minimisation advice to guests.

Offer support and information to volunteers regarding their guests.

Through agreed care plans, work assertively and creatively with guests

and empower them to facilitate change.

Refer guests if possible to detox, hospitals, scripting services, GPs,

needle exchange, day programmes, etc.,

Run a ‘discreet’ needle exchange for the drug using guests.

Offer herbal teas to those guests who had problems with sleeping and

dealing with their withdrawals.

Support Kate Mellor (Co-ordinator) in setting up additional services for

guests.

Manager and run the Referral Line and waiting lists for people who

were using the 25 beds each night.

Liaise with Borough services to promote the Open Shelter.

The Main Shelter Service ran from 2:30pm on 23 December 2010, till 11am on

the 30 December 2010. The Pilion Trust ran an evening service from 2:30pm to

10:30pm each day. Adeleh Sasansara coordinated and managed the

project. Every shift was covered by a worker and a volunteer who had been

trained by Adeleh and Jackie.






The Youth Shelter Service ran a slightly different timetable due to the needs of

the vulnerable client. The Shelter opened at 4pm on the 23rd December 2010

and ran till 12pm on the 30th December 2010. During Christmas and Boxing

Day the shelter was open 24 hours per day.

The Pilion Trust’s – ECO Service (Enhanced Community Outreach), work within

the quality assurance framework Quads/Danos and NTA. NVQ3 qualified

outreach workers as a team uphold the face of the Trust.

The report as tabled below shows the work undertaken with the guests who

accessed the Service during the week.

The total number of guests at the Main Shelter was 65 who engaged and

worked with the Team over the week.

The Main Shelter – Union Chapel Type of Support & Information Offered:

Ethnicity

Harm Reduction/ Minimisation 32

Services information 16

Assessment 29

Advice & Information 41

Needle Exchange 3

Counselling 8

Treatment Referrals 2

Charity & Trust Grants 6

White British 13 Irish 3 Caribbean 1

Black British

3 White Other 6 Asian 8

Mixed Race 3 Polish 6 African 4

North African 9 Latvian 3 Romanian 2

Russian 1 Cypriot 1 Latin American 2






Age Range: Gender:

Sexuality:

Onward Referrals To:

Substance Misuse:

Needle Exchange:

The needle exchange ran across the whole week in the evenings during the

Christmas week. It was a discreet service that was promoted by word of

mouth and worked within the protocols of the Governments policy on drug

use and the QHA Drug Policy.

Over this period:

3 guests accessed the needle exchange daily.

100% of the guests accessing needle exchange were male.

Most of these guests used in combination Crack and Heroin.

There was a significant reduction of these guests shared works and

have had unprotected sex.

The length of use ranged from 1year to 5 years.

None of the guests that used the needle exchange disclosed their HIV

or HEP status.

Under 25 3 5%

26–35 14 22%

36 – 45 23 35%

46- 55 15 23%

56+ 10 15%

Male 50 77%

Female 15 23%

Heterosexual 53 82%

Gay 3 5%

Lesbian 2 3%

Bisexual 1 1%

Not stated 6 9% Islington HAC 8

Westminster HPU 6

Hackney Housing Options 3

Camden Housing Options 8

Milton House 3

Brook Drive 1

City Roads 1

AA & NA 16

Supported Housing 3

Bethany House 1

Family Mosaic 1

CRI –ISIS 7

Alone in London 12

Margery Street Shelter 3

Other Services 26

Primary %

Alcohol 22 34%

Heroin 17 26%

Crack 6 9%

Cannabis 12 18%

Methadone 5 8%






All guests engaged with Workers to discuss safer injecting practises, safer sex

and received condom packs and information about other Services they

could access.

Referral Line:

The phone line opened on 20th Dec 10 and ran to the evening of 29th Dec 10.

A simple referral form with risk assessment was created to meet the needs of

both shelters and of all referrals that came in to help the Shift Leaders, Adele

and Jackie of any support or areas of concern. The form was also designed to

gather some general information on guests. It also formed the basis of

knowing who was on chain and areas guests where coming from.

Referrals came from a broad catchment of Services. They included:

[email protected], Camden HPU, Islington HAC, Arab Advice Bureau,

Margins, Refugee Action, Alone in London, ISIS, Manna Centre, Foundation

66, Whitaker Centre, The Passage, New Horizon, Crisis and Pilion.

At the beginning the line was very busy and the main shelter was over

capacity on the first night. The Youth Shelter had extra female beds and 3

women were sent over to stay at the youth shelter.

Awaiting list was arranged on first come first served basis.

The referrals list really helped us to prioritise the guests and help Pilion Workers

move guests forward and offer them appropriate support.

We also moved guests onto St. Mungo’s and Crisis Shelters and advised on

opening times on other shelters in other Boroughs.

The only issue was guests sneaking in friends without informing the front door

and people not arriving before the doors closed.

YOUTH SHELTER – Cally Methodist Church The youth shelter was the first pilot of its type. Never before in London had any

organisation created provision for 16 to 21yr olds. QHA, Pilion and Cally

Methodists worked in partnership to create a homely, safe environment for

young people in crisis over Christmas.

Referrals were open to Islington services. They included Statutory Youth

Services (inc. Social Services, YOT, YIP, Islington Young Peoples Services, New

Horizon, Alone in London, Pulse N7, and Islington HAC).






We received 19 referrals over the week of young people in crisis. People

leaving care, family breakdown, pregnancy, relationship breakdowns, rough

sleeping and runaways were referred.

Referrals came from New Horizon, Alone in London, The Metropolitan Police,

Estate Managers, HAC as well as self-referrals and community members

calling Pilion.

Ethnicity:

Age Range: Male:

Sexuality:

Onward Referrals To:

Substance Misuse:

CASE STUDIES:

Yusuf:

Yusuf is a 19 year old Asylum Seekers from Darfur. He arrived in UK in 2009 after

he lost both his parents and his 2 sisters to war in his region. He was placed in

a NASS scheme till December 2010, when his leave to remain was granted.

White British 8 Irish 0 Caribbean 1

Black British

2 White Other 0 Asian 2

Algerian 2 Polish 1 African 3

Male 13 68%

Female 6 32%

Under 16 0

16 - 18 3 16%

19 - 21 15 79%

22+ 1 5%

Heterosexual 15 79%

Gay 2 11%

Lesbian 0

Bisexual 1 5%

Not stated 1 5% Islington HPU 2

Clearing House 2

YMCA 5

Broadway London 1

Private Landlord 1

New Horizon 3

Alone in London 4

Other Services 5

Primary %

Alcohol 1 5%

Heroin 0

Cocaine 2 11%

Cannabis 4 21%

Methadone 0






His time with NASS came to an end and he was asked to leave the project in

Leeds. With his little bit of money he got on a bus and came to London

seeking work and housing.

He ended up homeless and rough sleeping on buses in Westminster. He was

homeless and in a depressed state for over 3 weeks before the police took

him to New Horizon’s.

He came and accessed the youth shelter on the first day.

During his time at the shelter he was met assessed and an action plan was

put in place.

He has been referred and accepted to City YMCA and the Voids List from

Broadway. He has also been assessed for college and to attend an ESOL

course at Morley College.

Yusuf now has 2 offers of housing and college to attend in February 2011.

Due to the Quakers and the shelter, Yusuf has been given an opportunity to

stabilise himself and look to a brighter future. He has received his first benefits,

enrolled in college and is awaiting interviews for his housing.

OUTCOMES:

Out of the total of 84 active guests that engaged with the Substance Misuse

Specialists the following conclusions can be drawn:

1. 2 guests accessed detox during the Open Christmas.

2. 1 guest accessed detox on the 4th January 2011.

3. Alcohol use (34%) was the preferred substance used by the guests. This

is a 4% increase from the previous year.

4. A further 33 (40%) guests were given housing options.

5. Violence, Robbery and shop lifting is the main source of income of the

guests to fund their substance use.

6. At the Main Shelter 35% of guests were aged between 36-45 yrs old.

While at the youth Shelter 79% of guests were aged between 19-21 yrs

old.

7. Majority of guests were male.

8. White/British were the main ethnic group that accessed the Substance

Misuse Service. Accompanied by a myriad of guests which were from

other ethnic origins.

9. More than (62%) of the guests had complex needs and mental health

issues.

10. More than (42%) of guests were undocumented, illegal, over stayers

and had No Recourse to Public Funds. This has been the highest

increase since the partnership began.






THE BRIDGING PERIOD SHELTER – 30.12.10 to the 10.01.11

Introduction:

The Quakers funded Pilion, this year to support them to continue the service till

10th January 2011. Pilion arranged for Volunteers, food donations from Local

restaurants, and Trixie and Adele managed to get a huge amount of clothing

donated from companies like Rockit, Monsoon and local nightclubs such as

the Egg, the coats, hats, gloves etc where then given to the homeless

residents first and housed service users also got to take three items.

The aims of the shelter were as follows:

o Offer a safe environment to rough sleepers and homeless persons in

Islington.

o Deliver harm reduction support to clients with drug and alcohol

dependency needs.

o Deliver a site based needle exchange.

o Additional support around housing, ID and benefits.

o Offer nutritious meals, laundry, shower and clothing store facilities.

The Shelter:

The shelter took over from the Quakers at the Union Chapel at 10am on the

30th December 2010 to 2pm on 1st January 2011. Then moved back to the

Cally Methodist Church till 11am 10th January 2011

The shelter offered access to 25+ people per night mainly from Islington.

The shelter ran activities, talking therapies, group work and delivered triage

assessments and a needle exchange.

In total 26 individuals stayed at the shelter during this period.

The Guests:

Below are the demographic statistics of the guests who stayed at the shelter.

o 15 men, 6 young men and 5 women.

o 5 of the guest had diagnosed metal health needs.

o 6 had dual diagnosis needs linked to drug and alcohol misuse and

mental health needs.

o 2 were alcohol dependant

o 2 were heroin dependant.

o 2 were crack dependant.

Outcomes:

By 2:00pm on the 1st January 2010 the following outcomes had been

achieved:

o 9 guests accessed CARIS Winter shelter programme.

o 3 guest signed tenancy with St. Mungo’s Margery Street Rolling Shelter.

o 12 stayed with Shelter Me! Project and returned to Cally.






o 4 guest was referred to supported housing and awaiting his tenancy.

o 5 guests were referred to YMCA and 2 have already moved into their

tenancies.

o 4 guests referred and assessed by CRI ISIS

o 2 guests attended an alcohol assessment at Foundation 66

o No guest admitted to hospital this year!

o 6 guests registered with GP

o 2 guests referred to David Barker house supported housing scheme.

o 5 guests accessed benefits and NI numbers

o 1 guest applied for ID.

o 2 guests referred to and attended the Refugee Council.

o 3 guests referred and accessed Mental Health Services.

o 13 guests were reconnected with Boroughs for them to access

services.

Summary:

With the temperatures in Central London dropping below 0 degrees during

December the additional days were imperative for the rough sleepers and

homeless to survive the severe temperatures and be able to access services.

At the time of the report the shelter is still up and running at full capacity. We

have also had a further 6 referrals. It was a case of referring people on as

more people turned up.

22 of the guests were hidden homeless and have never been met by services

or accessed statutory services before. The ability to extend the shelter gave

Pillion’s ECO staff an opportunity to work with these individuals to pathway

them to necessary services.

All in all we believe the project not only delivered a necessary service to

people but also exceeded its aims and expectations. On the whole we feel

our rapport with guests is one where instead of holding their hands we walk

with them to a more stable future.

Conclusions:

The partnership between our two organisations and our staff and volunteers

engaged well to enable a safe warm and relaxed environment for guests to

feel at home and in the same time explore issues that may have been the

causes of their homelessness or drug addiction.

We had Trixie manning the phone lines and Adele and Jackie liaising

between the two shelter. Adeleh and Aiden took the lead with housing

advice and referrals, while the rest of the Pilion team dealt with substance

misuse counselling and referral to the right services to help our guests with

their issues.

The later days of the shelter and spill over created a much needed family

type atmosphere where the guests got involved in activities like cleaning the






project and cooking etc, helping them feel part of the project as a symbiotic

relationship.

We, unlike many services to not operate a client/worker method of

engagement but see the holistic person and work with them nor for them, this

was imbued in the remainder of the days the shelter was open.

Many clients really opened up and most of the intense one to one work took

place. The marquees upstairs again really helped to create a sense of privacy

and intimacy that helped the guests relax and think about their issues.

We would also like to thank Rockit, Monsoon, Le Peche Mignon, The Mosiac

Restaurant, CRISIS, CARIS, the Hungerford School, The Egg, Members of the

Caledonian Methodist Church, Mathew Dickenson Flowers, Stichin Business,

Paul, Mark, for their donations and support.

From staff and volunteer feedback this year has been even more successful

than in the past, not only because we got results when facing the practical

issues of guests, but we also got results with the guests emotional issues and

helped them experience a warm friendly and INCLUDED holiday season

where instead of being ignored, as most homeless people are, they felt

valued.

ADELEH SASANSARA

Shelter Me! PROJECT CO ORDINATOR

Pilion Trust – 07.01.2011

Documents

Quakers Report 2010 Open Xmas