​I initially started my volunteering journey in November 2019 whilst I was at university studying Criminology and Sociology. It was a particularly cold, windy day and I had offered a man in the city centre, a McDonalds but he asked me if I had money to give instead. I felt really conflicted by this so politely declined but felt that I really lacked an understanding as to why he was asking for money and whether or not I should have given it to him.

I found The Whitechapel Centre whilst doing some research online and submitted an application to become a volunteer. During my training session there were so many options for me to choose from but I felt really drawn to the dynamic and fast paced environment of the day centre on Langsdale Street. However, I knew this was quite an ambitious choice as I was only 18 and had never done anything like this before.

I began volunteering every week and loved meeting so many new people, being able to provide a listening ear and make a tiny difference to someone’s day even if it was as simple as making a cup of tea or getting them another biscuit. Unfortunately, not long after I really got into the swing of things, the pandemic struck, leading the day centre to close and my role as a volunteer to change.

I began to drop off the food parcel provision for those in Covid emergency accommodation at various hotels and B and B’S across the city, working between the newly developed day centre and our donations centre. Whilst I still felt like I was making a difference and everyone was so grateful, I really missed the face to face aspect. As such, I began the next step of my Whitechapel Centre journey and encouraged by my fellow volunteers and manager, I applied to be a member of the bank staff.
Successful in this application, I was able to take up shifts in the main Covid emergency accommodation as part of the ‘Everybody In’ campaign. This was a big change from the food parcel delivery I had become accustomed to but I quickly fell back into the swing of the frontline role I missed. After 5 months of bank shifts, I was offered a permanent part time contract which allowed me to have my first caseload which I shared with another member of staff. This responsibility provided the opportunity to develop skills that been introduced to me in my very first days as a volunteer in Langsdale Street.

September 2021 saw the closure of this provision and a new role for me within the Outreach team. I quickly fell in love with this way of working and felt so inspired in the way the team worked together to find solutions for those who were rough sleeping, sometimes for the very first time. Despite this, the circumstances were often challenging, particularly in the winter months but there was such a sense of achievement in finding a housing solution for someone who had spent so long without accommodation.

During this time, I began to see a pattern in some of the people we were seeing on a regular basis and I was putting referrals into the Pathways team, who provided intensive outreach support to those where substance misuse is a barrier to accessing or maintaining accommodation. A lot of these referrals were for people that the system didn’t accommodate for and had been evicted or discharged from mainstream services for non engagement, leading them to continually rough sleep.

At this point, the end of university was fast approaching and I was looking for my post graduate job. Having been made to feel so welcome and motivated over the years, there really was no other option for me than to continue working at The Whitechapel Centre. I was fortunate enough to be offered a role on the Pathways team, finding my real purpose in support and advocacy, in a role where every single day is different. From teaching safe injecting on the street to taking people for manicures, from outreach in the snow, ice and rain to stadium tours round Anfield, I continue to feel so inspired by the staff, volunteers and people we supported over the years, knowing that I am so lucky to do a job that I love.  

MEP provides a tailored, intensive learning and life skills programme of support for people experiencing homelessness and have a range of additional support needs.  The programme of support is designed to empower members to get involved in making changes for themselves in order build their confidence, self-esteem and identify their interests and aspirations.  By doing this we help members create a sense of purpose and belonging in the community so as to promote sustainable resettlement, thereby halting cycles of homelessness.

Since April 2022 we have received, engaged and worked with a total of 293 referrals.  All were experiencing homelessness and had a range of support needs.  Analysis of participants shows 53% were male and 47% female; 51% were aged 20-44, 45% aged 45-64, 2% aged 19 or under and 2% over 65.

In total 1735 engagement and learning activities have been developed and delivered, significantly higher than the original target.  The reason for so many sessions has been an attempt to maximise engagement by ensuring more bespoke / tailored engagement activities.  This approach has worked, as evidenced by the outcomes achieved through these activities.

The range of daily activities and learning sessions have included IT courses, ESOL classes, Football, Woman’s groups, Pet Therapy, Walking group, Photography, Music Groups, Gardening group Chapman Gardens, Pre-volunteer training, Volunteer training and opportunities, 1:1 engagement and the Lived Experience Network. ​

Spotlight on Housing Support

Preventing homelessness is a key element of our work, last year The Whitechapel Centre prevented homelessness for 1,447 people. We do this in a number of ways, including drop-in advice sessions, online and phone advice, as well as home visits for people needing more sustained support. For many of the people we help there are underlying issues of substance misuse, mental health, money management or similar which are putting their tenancy at risk.  Home visits are also the main way of supporting people resettling into their own accommodation from hostels or temporary accommodation.

We operate a number of surgeries at locations in Liverpool including Langsdale Street, Toxteth Town Hall and Kensington Children’s Centre.  Through the surgeries we support people to navigate systems e.g. Welfare Rights, Propertypool Plus applications. For some people we can resolve issues with a one-off or small number of interventions. 

We encourage anyone who is concerned about their housing situation to get in touch as soon as possible,.

Big thanks to our fantastic staff team for helping us achieve Investors in People Gold in our recent assessment. The Whitechapel Centre have been IiP accredited since 2010 but only 17% of accredited organisations achieve the Gold Standard so we are really proud to once again be accredited at this level.
 
Known all over the world, Investors in People (IiP) accreditation is granted to organisations that demonstrate a clear alignment between business strategy and people strategies. The IiP assessment framework provides a clear benchmark against the very best performing companies, with a full staff survey and in-depth employee interviews against key performance indicators combining to not only ‘score’ our performance, but also to drive improvement into the future.
 
From support workers, administrators, retail and fundraisers, managers, senior managers,  - our assessment illustrated our people’s unwavering passion and dedication towards delivering successful outcomes for our clients and their huge commitment to our core values which are that we are Passionate, Inclusive, Dedicated, Community-driven, Innovative and Enabling.  More than this, being benchmarked against an external framework offers all our stakeholders reassurance that The Whitechapel Centre is on a journey of continuous improvement towards our Vision to be an excellent, high profile independent local charity working in partnership to see an end to homelessness, social exclusion and housing poverty in our communities.