Homelessness Services

Supporting Vulnerable People

St Anne’s very first service was set up in Leeds in 1971 to support homeless people in Leeds. At that time a group of people identified the need for a daytime refuge for homeless people. Using available space at St Anne’s Cathedral, a group of volunteers created a day centre which offered food and a friendly atmosphere where homeless men could come and go freely without pressure. From that time on our homeless services in Leeds and beyond have grown steadily, each time identifying specific needs, and then working in partnership with clients and service commissioners to provide for those needs.

We are proud to support the needs of homeless people, helping to secure their wellbeing and future options.

  • Our Services
  • Client Outcomes
  • Case Studies
  • Our Quality

    Our Services

    We have an excellent track record, in providing and developing accommodation schemes for homeless individuals, supporting them to live independently and improve their health and wellbeing.

    Our expertise is drawn from the delivery of services including:

    Bevin Court – Sheffield

    Bevin Court aims to provide support that promotes independence and supports clients to access quality affordable housing. The existing service has been successfully run by St Anne’s for 25 years – with a recent 78% positive move on.

    Manager: David Peers / david.peers@st-annes.org.uk

    St Anne’s Resource Centre – Leeds

    A homelessness resource centre with an open-door policy, working with people who are homeless, rough sleeping or vulnerably housed.

    This service is often the first point of contact for those at risk of homelessness where people can have a safe unpressured place to form relationships with staff. We are in a unique position to support some of the most severely excluded individuals, and by building links with partner agencies we play a key strategic role in local efforts to end homelessness within Leeds.

    Resource Centre Manager: Fiona Petrie

    Contact: 0113 281 6906 / fiona.petrie@st-annes.org.uk

     

     

    Somewhere Safe to Stay Hub

    Our ‘Somewhere Safe to Stay’ hub offers night time emergency provision for women with complex needs who are street homeless or vulnerably housed, offering them a ‘safe place to stay’ for the evening. This service is available for females to access from 6pm to 7am, 7 days a week, for 72 hours, with St Anne’s Resource Centre being open and available to access for support from 6:30am the next morning.

    With a number of services co-locating at St Anne’s Resource Centre already, the women will be able to access a range of support the next day which will include a pathway to accommodation as well as look to address why they needed to access the HUB, and what needs to be done to prevent them from sleeping rough or becoming homeless in the future.

    Referrals will come via Leeds Housing Options and Leeds Housing Options Out of Hours Team, who will then contact the Hub and confirm the place.

    For further information or queries, please contact the Resource Centre (details on the left).

     

    Client Outcomes

    We aim to provide a meaningful service to support people in their lives, we offer:

    • Breakfast Club – 5 mornings per week, enabling people to have access to Health Services, Street Outreach and mental health homeless housing team
    • A safe mailing address for individuals who have no fixed abode
    • Advice on housing issues and claiming benefits
    • Laundry
    • Shower facilities
    • Condom distribution scheme
    • One to one advice and support with issues such as housing, benefits access to health care and mental health services as well as drug and alcohol issues
    • Education
    • Employment

    These services help clients every day to provide the foundation for them to have more fulfilled lives.

    Client Outcomes

    Case Studies

    Supporting needs and providing a future

    Client A presented at our service following different stays in women refuges and homeless provisions, all that appeared to break down due to shared accommodation, conflict and possibility of client needs not been identified at the time.

    When she presented into emergency accommodation during the pandemic, she was first placed in the mixed sex hotel, however it was soon felt she would be better placed in female emergency accommodation.

    When she arrived, there was as a language and cultural need. Client A had identified domestic violence, honour based violence and possible female genital mutilation. She was supported by a social worker but presented with little confidence or abilities to care for herself. Her risk alerts were high and included no lone working, We adopted our  approach to key working and managed to build positive working relationships with the client.

    Over the time in St Anne’s supported emergency accommodation and having key working meetings. Client A began to open up slightly and concerns developed for possible miss-diagnosis of learning difficulties or mental health. Our staff used their skill to support and developed a working relationship that not only nurtured but provide a platform for her personal growth.

     

    As time went on it became apparent that Client A was struggling with many areas of personal and environmental tasks. She would become fixated on not spending money and didn’t like to provide for herself. Staff worked alongside Client A to gain an understanding of where this came from and possibility of any financial abuse. Staff adopted a trauma informed approach and moved away from perceived engagement or dis-engagement of Client A and worked with a foundation of person centred care and explored how as a staff team we could amend our approach. Our team used knowledge of working with vulnerable clients and the need to be trauma informed while respecting Client A’s cultural needs. They began to build trust and client began to develop skills slowly and was seen trying to engage with staff, attending appointment and began spending small amount of money on herself.

    Through the partnership working and feedback from our staff who were working closely with Client A and working alongside Leeds Housing Options, plans were put in place for  an Our Way Leeds assessment. St Anne’s staff took the lead in arranging a professionals meeting and getting everyone involved in one place to discuss ongoing needs after emergency accommodation.

    The outcome: Client A is in a property supported by Our Way Leeds with initial added outreach support from St Anne’s staff who worked in the hotel to provide a transition period and setting in and getting to know who’s who for the client. We have  continued to partnership work with agencies, and this has resulted in offer from St Anne’s outreach service to provide an additional 10 hour support a week agreed through Adult Social Care to work alongside all other services. This provides a holistic approach to all Client A’s needs being met and ways to prevent further emergency accommodation.

     

    Our Quality

    We are proud to deliver a service which really can transform lives, here are just a few quotes from some of the people we have supported:

    • “Please believe me when I say this my experience and contact with St Anne’s and staff involved in helping and supporting me through a very low point in my life, please trust me when I say that I don’t think I would be alive today, if it wasn’t for there help. Kind regards and a life saved with hope restored in human kindness and feelings of option available to me now. Thanks” (Client)
    • “On entry after never been in this position before I felt degraded for having to access this kind of service but on leaving I feel that he had been treated with dignity and all my needs were met and felt grateful for the support given” (Client)
    • “Thank you for all you have done from the first time we met until now, I feel like a new person to what I was a few years ago.” (Client)
    • “You always make time , for us you are a fab group of people with a heart of gold, nothing is ever too much” (Client)

    The quote below was written by a client.

    Our Quality
Contact Us for Support

Contact Us for Support

If you/ someone you know requires homelessness support, please use our contact form here

Click Here

Stay up to date with all things St Anne’s