The Whitechapel Centre

Q: I am about to become, or am already homeless / I know somebody who is in danger of becoming homeless. Can you help?
A: Yes. If you are homeless or are about to become homeless, please visit The Whitechapel Centre during opening hours where you will be seen by a Duty Adviser. If you choose to self refer by visiting us, you will not need an appointment; but you may be given an appointment to return and see our Housing Adviser if we feel a longer appointment is necessary.

Agencies can discuss a case or refer someone by telephoning us on 0151 207 7617 and asking for Duty Advice or by downloading a referral form here. If you are referred to us by someone else, a worker from The Whitechapel will contact you at the earliest opportunity to assess your need.

In every circumstance, the person being referred will meet a Duty Adviser at the Centre as their first point of contact with The Whitechapel. Your situation will be assessed and we will advise you of your housing options. If you need a bed and we are able to identify a suitable hostel vacancy for you, we will refer you to the hostel. We will also tell you about other services that we can offer you and, if appropriate, refer you to another agency e.g. Liverpool City Council's Homeless Service or directly link you to the most relevant service at The Whitechapel which meets your needs.

Families and those aged 16 and over, can register as homeless with your local authority. In Liverpool contact:
The Housing Options Service - In person at any City Council One Stop Shop between 9am and 4pm.  Or Telephone: 0151 233 3800 outside of these hours.  Freephone: 0800 731 6844

If you are under 16, you should contact the police or local social services department who form part of your local council.

If you are over 16 years and are homeless, the city council has a duty to assess your homelessness status and to make a decision whether they have a duty to re-house you. If they decide that they do not have a duty to house you, they still have a duty to provide you with advice and assistance to assist you in finding your own accommodation.

Q: Do you have accommodation? 
 A: Whitechapel does not have its own accommodation. We work with the local authority, social landlords, private landlords and other agencies to identify suitable and where necessary, emergency housing. Whitechapel’s aim has always been to find accommodation for those who need it most and help equip the most vulnerable with the skills through our programmes and initiatives to ensure that they remain housed.

Q: There are rough sleepers in my neighbourhood, can Whitechapel help? 
 A: Yes, we can. In the first instance you should contact us by phone or email. Everything you tell Whitechapel will be treated with the strictest confidence and at no point will your name or other personal details be divulged. Once we have full details, Whitechapel’s outreach workers will visit the location and begin the process that will hopefully see the rough sleepers addressing their housing needs and the issues that led them to their current situation.

Q: I would like some information about homelessness
A: For the latest on numbers of homeless people, please look at the Communities and Local Government publications on homelessness figures at http://www.communities.gov.uk/corporate/. For more localised information please contact us or any of the other homeless agencies in Liverpool i.e. the Basement and City Mission.

Q: How do I feedback any comments about Whitechapel Services or make a complaint? 
 A: The Whitechapel Centre welcomes feedback from partner agencies, carers and users of its services about the support and services that we provide.  We also have a formal complaints procedure (include link here) and complaints form (include link), please contact us on 0151 207 7617 should you require assistance with using the procedure.  You may also feedback any comments using the email address and contact form on this website.

Q: What does Whitechapel do? 
 A: The Whitechapel Centre works with individuals/households over the age of 16 who are homeless, at risk of homelessness, and/or require support services to enable them begin to address their housing and support needs in order that they may be helped to realise their full potential.

Our programmes are created and delivered solely by us as well as with the support of partner organisations. There are many strands to the work we do from providing basic needs such as washing and cleaning facilities to providing a range of housing, resettlement and supported housing services which aim to enable individuals to address housing and support needs. These include helping those who have education, employment, mental health or substance misuse needs. The range of problems our service users live with are complex and often combined, we run a whole spectrum of programmes that deal with our service user’s varied needs.

For more detailed information about Whitechapel’s work, look at the menu for What we do to see information on our specific services.

Q: Can you help me financially?
A: Unfortunately Whitechapel does not provide financial assistance to our service users, however, we do offer support in other ways i.e. food, washing and cleaning facilities, clothing, bedding and access to medical care, as well as putting service users in touch with those organisations that may be able to help financially.

Q: What is your charity number? 
 A: Whitechapel’s registered charity number is 1013060

Q: How can I make a donation to Whitechapel? 
 A: There are many ways to donate to Whitechapel – we accept gifts of money and items that help us deliver the work of the Day Centre e.g. food, bedding, clothes and toiletries. You can also get involved by participating in or organising an event on behalf of Whitechapel.

Please visit the Donation section of this website for full details of what we can and can’t accept as well as how to donate to Whitechapel.

Q: Are Whitechapel able to collect donations? 
 A: The Whitechapel will make every effort to collect donations where possible. While we do not possess our own vehicle, staff may be able to collect items in theirs. In all instances, you should contact us to discuss any items you wish to donate and the feasibility of Whitechapel collecting them if necessary.

Q: Does Whitechapel visit organisations to talk about its work?
A: The Centre is always happy to develop external relations by visiting schools, churches, community centres and businesses to talk about our work and explain what we do. We believe that by discussing the causes and effects of homelessness, we can help to de-mystify it as well as promote tolerance of those who are unfortunately without accommodation. If you would like someone from Whitechapel to visit you, please get in touch by emailing us or telephoning 0151 207 7617.

Q: Where is the Whitechapel Centre?
A: The Whitechapel is based in two buildings, both located in Everton and within a short walking distance of each other. The Rough Sleeper Enablement Centre, where the open access, washing and cleaning facilities, advice and medical care provided is based on Langsdale Street. Our Fox Street premises is home to the teams who deliver the remainder of Whitechapel’s projects as well as the administration department.

Click here to view a map – if you are travelling by bus, for suitable buses and timetables, please call Merseytravel on 0870 608 2608 or visit the website here to plan your journey.