Laura Mackenzie, support worker, The Waterloo Project

“The traineeship was a fantastic way to start my career in the homeless sector – you are eased into the work very gently. As a trainee, you feel like a student in the best sense. The teams I worked with were so supportive and nurturing, and they helped me grow a lot in a short time. After 7 months as a trainee, I had gained enough confidence, experience and skill to apply for a permanent job. I am now a support worker at the Waterloo Project.”

7am

“Today I am working an early shift – so I arrive at the hostel at 7am.  After making an emergency coffee, it’s time for a ‘handover’.  The previous shift run through our list of clients, letting us know who’s been seen throughout the night. Handovers are opportunities to flag any issues with clients or the building that the next shift needs to be aware of.” 

7:30am

“I do a check of the building – one of the early shift’s ‘duty tasks’. Duty tasks are routine tasks that are done around the hostel every day, mostly relating to health and safety.”

8:30am

“The hostel is quiet, and there’s nothing urgent on emails, so I take the opportunity to work on a support plan. The Waterloo Project has 19 clients – all with complex needs around areas such as mental health and substance use. Support plans take this into account, they include assessments of the client’s risks and needs, as well as relevant goals. They are quite detailed documents, but as a trainee there’s plenty of time to get to grips with them, as you only have one client.”  

9am

“I accompany my client to her 10am probation appointment. On other days I might accompany her to drug and alcohol services, court appearances and doctor’s appointments. As a trainee, there’s plenty of opportunity to see and build relationships with the many different external agencies that clients use.  Sometimes these ‘external agencies’ come to the hostel, such as our weekly nurse clinic.”

10:30am

“My client and I have a detailed ‘keywork session’ – my favourite part of being a trainee. My client and I discuss the progress on her goals and have a think about some of the things she is struggling with at the moment. As a trainee, you have time for frequent and in-depth key work sessions with your client, giving you the chance to build strong rapport and trust. Keywork sessions allow you to build essential support work skills such as empathising, effective listening and maintaining boundaries.”

11:00am

“As a trainee, I was given responsibility for the area ‘service user involvement’. Service user involvement is about encouraging clients to participate in how the service is run. This morning I am helping facilitate a residents’ meeting, where clients can share their thoughts and suggestions about the hostel.”

12am

“It is time for the ‘welfare check’ – I knock and enter each of the bedrooms to ensure clients are safe.”

12:30

Lunch break.

1pm

“Today I have an online training session on ‘Client Support and Domestic Violence.’ All trainees complete a set of Core training courses, but beyond these, there are plenty of opportunities to take on additional learning. My client is struggling with issues around domestic violence and my supervisor supported me in seeking out this specific training.”

2:30pm

“The late shift arrives, and I hand over all relevant information. On alternate Wednesdays, this is also the time we have ‘reflective practice’. This is when our team, including our psychologists, gather for an in-depth reflective discussion on one client. These meetings really show you what taking a ‘team-approach’ to challenges looks like.”

3:00pm

“Home!”

Thames Reach’s traineeship programme is open for 2021. This year’s cohort will start in May 2021, and the deadline for applications is 7 February. Click here for more information on becoming a trainee.  

Yvonne is area manager for floating support and other prevention-based services at Thames Reach. We chat to her as she explains her role in the organisation and how advocacy for the people we work with lies at the heart of our work.

Can you explain your role?
I’m an area manager at Thames Reach, responsible for overseeing the floating support services, including Brent Reach, and the social impact bond team, as well as our two tenancy sustainment teams (TST).

What does floating support do?
We help people get support in their own home or where accommodation has been identified for them. In addition to housing, we provide support around issues including mental health, as some people will have a range of support needs. My services are preventative, so we work with people to maintain their tenancies and make sure they feel supported. We also work with people who may not be happy in their tenancies, and having previously been street homeless may still be engaged with street life. Making sure people stay housed is our main priority and we adopt different techniques to tailor this support to the client.

How do you feel Thames Reach is different to other organisations?
For us, as a service and an organisation, it is important to be actively listening and working with people, working with their priorities in mind in a way that is inclusive and builds trust so that they can achieve their aspirations. Staff genuinely share the Thames Reach ethos, and strive to operate in a people-focused manner, communicating well with those using our services and being sensitive to different life experiences.

What has it been like working for Thames Reach?
I’ve been working with Thames Reach a long time; I started as a support worker and gradually progressed into the area manager role, which is my third or fourth management post, so I’m fully committed to Thames Reach. One of the things that initially attracted me was its reputation, the way the work is person-centred, flexible, and focused on clients’ needs. The element of establishing positive working relationships with local communities and local authorities is really important too. As an employer, Thames Reach is generally a supportive organisation; I’ve always been encouraged to undertake personal and professional development. If you say you want to develop in a particular area or develop a particular skill, managers are likely to embrace that. We challenge ourselves as professionals as well as challenging others in the sector. Our advocacy for the people we work with is also hugely important. It’s definitely one of our strengths as an organisation. 

Lindsey Shepherd, Assistant Support Worker, Martha Jones House

“Two days are never the same at the hostel. One constant however, is that shifts always begin with a handover from the previous team. This provides an opportunity to highlight any clients who we are concerned about and may need to monitor throughout the day.

“The morning is usually focused around reminding clients of their appointments and ensuring that they are supported to attend them. Although most of our work takes place in-house, we sometimes accompany clients to probation, drug rehabilitation services and to the job centre. As a trainee, I had more time available to visit local services, including day centres and support groups, which gave me a more holistic insight into how the local authority are able to support those experiencing homelessness. A lot of our role includes liaising with other agencies to advocate on behalf of our clients, so it helps to establish a rapport with them. 

“At midday every day, we enter every room to do a welfare check, to ensure that all of our residents are safe and that the building is secure. We will also do a sweep of the local area to identify whether there are any rough sleepers and report these to the outreach team. The building has an in-house surgery, so once a week a GP and nurse from the local practice come in to provide medical assistance to our residents, reducing the barriers for them to access mainstream healthcare.

“There are normally several activity groups that run in the hostel throughout the week, which trainees take a leading role in running. For example, I helped to facilitate an arts class with a local creative group called Duckie. It was a space for clients to express how they were feeling through a range of different mediums such as: dance videos, flick-through sketchbooks and joke books. We also ran a cooking group, in which we would accompany clients to the supermarket to buy the ingredients for a dish of their choice.  

“We’re a high-needs hostel, which means many of our residents have complex support needs, including difficulties with their mental health and substance use. Much of our work is therefore focused on encouraging them to reduce their dependence on drugs and alcohol, maximising and budgeting finances, preparation for employment, increasing their living skills, encouraging a meaningful use of time and addressing physical health needs.

“As a trainee I had less clients, which meant that I had a lot more time to spend with them. Ideally, we have at least one in-depth key work session per client each week. This is a space for clients to discuss any grievances and consider how to work towards their move on. Where possible, I try to have the sessions outside of the building to reduce distractions.

“The traineeship was a gentle introduction into working in the homeless sector. I was able to shadow at many of Thames Reach’s other projects including hostels, outreach and floating support. This gave me the opportunity to develop my understanding of what services are available and to decide where my skills would best fit in before applying for a job.  My manager is really supportive and encouraged me to focus on what I’m interested in. I had expressed an interest in working with women, so she has allowed me to take the lead in this area. I have attended multi-agency meetings on prostitution, outreached sex workers on the streets and will run a women’s space once the lockdown measures have ended.

“The benefit of working in a hostel is that you can work very closely with clients within their own home and can therefore follow their development closely. It also means that you always have your team by your side. We have bi-weekly Reflective Practice sessions as a space to discuss any challenging situations we have faced and to decide a collaborative approach of how we can best support a client. Ironically, the most rewarding part of the job for me is seeing people leave. Martha Jones House is only intended to be a temporary solution to rough sleeping and prepare them for their next chapter.”

Thames Reach’s traineeship programme is open for 2021. This year’s cohort will start in May 2021, and the deadline for applications is 7 February. Click here for more information on becoming a trainee.  

The London Assembly Housing Committee has released its report on ‘Five Steps to Build on Everyone In in London’. It takes a thorough look at the current landscape of rough sleeping in London, and the legacy left behind by the ‘Everyone In’ initiative. Highlighting that rough sleeping in London has increased by 170% in the last decade, the committee has produced at set of recommendations for the Mayor of London and government alike in order to reduce the devastating impact of street homelessness on people’s lives.

The cross-party Housing Committee examines matters relating to housing in London and takes a lead on scrutiny of the Mayor’s Housing Strategy.

The report takes a close look at numbers of people spotted rough sleeping in each quarter of the year, and breaks down these statistics to understand more about the people behind the numbers: their demographics, their support needs, and what brought them to the streets. This report has a particular focus on the first three months of the year, when the economic and social impact of the first lockdown manifested in an unprecedented increase in the numbers of people seen sleeping on the streets.

The report also deals with the response to this, particularly the provision of temporary accommodation (the ‘Everyone In’ initiative), and the Greater London Authority (GLA) and charity response to this.

Audrey, a Thames Reach support worker at Deptford Reach who was seconded to one of the hotels we ran during ‘Everyone In’, is interviewed on page 18 of the report:

“While supporting clients in the hotel, I was able to see that clients engage more with support staff than they do while working at the day centre. A client that I had difficulty engaging with before COVID was identified by the London Street Rescue team as a rough sleeper. The client had no identification, no bank account, and no job. The client was in the hotel from April to September. I met him in the hotel, and he engaged with me rather quickly. After completing an assessment with him, and understanding his predicament, I was able to support him to obtain an ID, a bank account, and Universal Credit. Currently, the client is living in private rented sector accommodation.

Working with the client helped him to realise that he neglected himself and had not taken care of himself properly. He told me that he would “take care of myself now,” and this goes to show how much he has learned from his experience rough sleeping.”

At Thames Reach, we find it encouraging that the Plan Points stated at the end of the report are already very much engrained in Thames Reach’s mission of ending street homelessness, in particular the cross-sector collaboration and the tailored solutions for people with high support needs, which we outlined in our recent statement outlining our vision for 2021.

Thames Reach have seen that people have continued to come onto the streets since the first lockdown, and while ‘Everyone In’ has ensured that the first group of people experiencing homelessness were temporarily housed and provided with support from our teams such as Private Sector Lettings (PSL), the people we work with are not a static population, and that the need for effective prevention work is greater than ever.

2020 was a year of great challenges for Thames Reach and the wider world, but it was a time where it was most clear that our vision of ending street homelessness is an urgent social and health priority. Thames Reach’s community of staff, volunteers and supporters came together throughout the year to ensure that vulnerable people were not left behind, from the Everyone In initiative in the Spring, through to maintaining and adapting all our services to respond to the impact of the pandemic.

Our core mission remains as it always has: to help people who are homeless or vulnerable find decent homes, build supportive relationships and lead fulfilling lives. While we need to respond to a world that is changing fast, our priorities for how we work to end street homelessness are now even more urgent.

A tailored approach to housing and accommodation. While there is a shortage of housing in London that is available to the people we work with, we recognise that it is not enough just to build more. Housing is not a one-size-fits-all solution, and there is a need for a range of accommodation models that can meet specific needs for independence, security and affordability and which complements the support that people will need at different points in their lives.  We know that this is not something that we can do on our own, and that we will need to continue working in partnership with other groups to achieve this.

Increased awareness of and access to healthcare for homeless people. Homelessness and rough sleeping has a catastrophic impact on the health of people affected by it. This can continue long after people are securely housed. The impact is worse, because the people we work with often do not get access to the health services that the rest of us take for granted.  We will work with health services to remove barriers to access, and to help services respond better to their needs.   Services such as the Lambeth Living Well Network, and our own Social Inclusion Project, are able to break down unhelpful barriers between clinical and social support and by doing so provide more effective and  sustainable recovery.

Providing support for non-UK nationals sleeping rough on London’s streets. Non-UK nationals, particularly those from the European Union, are disproportionately represented amongst people on the streets and in insecure accommodation.  With precarious immigration statuses and limited access to  support available, this is set to continue. The majority of the people we have been working with have called London their home for a significant amount of time, and have contributed to our communities in many ways. They have been particularly severely affected by the pandemic, often losing work without the safety net of benefits available to others.  We can help by supporting them into employment and affordable accommodation, and ensuring that they receive the advice that they need.

Pascal originally came to London in 2008 from Spain, where he was living after moving from Cameroon. In 2012, he lost his one-bed flat in Abbey Wood, so went back to Cameroon before later returning to the UK, working as a general operative in Leicester for two years. Pascal first needed support from Deptford Reach in 2017 after he became homeless and was staying in a night shelter. In the following years, he was able to develop connections in the community and access private rented sector accommodation, as well as receive help with Universal Credit.

As a dual citizen of Spain and Cameroon, Pascal soon had to apply for his indefinite leave to remain in the UK, so Deptford Reach referred him to Fernando in the EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS) team at Thames Reach. He deeply appreciates how much Fernando has helped him with multiple aspects of the application, including the language barrier as Pascal’s main language is Spanish, although generally his English is very good. The application process went well, and his indefinite leave to remain was granted. This outcome completes his work with Fernando.

His plans now are to get a good job and have his family, who are currently living in Spain, join him. In his spare time he loves to watch football and tennis, and is an avid reader of spy novels. 

Pascal says it was great to find an organisation that helped him, and the support he received has given him confidence to move on with his life. He says he wishes more people knew about the services offered at Deptford Reach and the EUSS team, so more people like him can find the right support.

This winter, we’re highlighting the work we’re doing to help people move on and live more fulfilling lives. You can find out more about our Moving On From Homelessness campaign and the services supporting people like Pascal by clicking the link here.

Thames Reach have signed a letter to the Department of Housing, Communities and Local Government requesting the expansion of the Protect programme based on the principles of Everyone In, as well as ensuring that frontline workers and vulnerable people in emergency accommodation are prioritised for the vaccine(s). Other organisations working in homelessness have also signed the letter: Crisis, Homeless Link, St Mungo’s, Housing Justice, Groundswell, The Passage, Pathway and Faculty for Homeless and Inclusion Health.

New variant SARS-CoV-2: why we must act to protect the lives of people facing homelessness.

As organisations working with people facing homelessness, and delivery partners of the government’s Everyone In scheme, we are calling on the Westminster Government to work with us to urgently sanction the next phase of Everyone In to protect people most exposed to coronavirus.

People facing homelessness are extremely vulnerable to severe health outcomes and mortality from Covid-19. With the discovery of the new SARS-CoV-2 variant, which is believed to be more than 50% more transmissible, there is projected to be a large and rapid increase in incidence with levels of hospitalisations and deaths in 2021 expected to be higher than in 2020.

Current Tier 4 measures put in place to protect people from the new variant are due to be expanded in the new year. These measures, while necessary, are extremely challenging and in some instances impossible to follow whilst homeless including in congregate settings that have shared facilities. For a time-limited period until high levels of vaccine uptake has been achieved, we would like to work with the government to realise:

1. Expansion of the Protect Programme based on the life-saving principles of Everyone In, and including a commitment that no one returns to the streets
2. Ensuring that people who are homeless in emergency accommodation, and frontline staff, are prioriitised for the COID-19 vaccine(s). 

Expanding the Protect Programme based on Everyone In principles

Through the extraordinary efforts of national and local government, nearly 30,000 people have been supported to move into emergency and other forms of accommodation since the start of the pandemic. In London, where the most robust data is available, London Councils reported that on May 4^th there were 3,630 people in emergency accommodation.

 This bold and world-leading action saved lives and relieved pressure on the NHS at a critical time. A recent study published by the Lancet showed that because of this response 266 deaths were avoided during the first wave of the pandemic among England’s homeless population, as well as 21,092 infections, 1,164 hospital admissions and 338 admissions to Intensive Care Units.[1]

 However, as the pressures of the coronavirus pandemic on people’s jobs and lives remain, many continue to be pushed into homelessness as the pressure becomes too much. From July to September 2020 in London, data shows 1,901 people were seen sleeping rough for the first time, which is 55% of the total number of people seen sleeping rough in this period (3,444 people).[2]

While government funding and initiatives have continued to support people sleeping rough, or at risk, into safe accommodation, the funding has had conditions attached. This has meant some people are falling through the gaps in support and therefore remain sleeping on our streets at a time where the new strain of coronavirus makes homelessness a heightened risk to life.

This includes through the new Protect Programme. While incredibly welcome, the programme reaches 10 local authority areas and focuses on supporting people who are defined as clinically vulnerable. However, barriers to accessing healthcare mean that people experiencing homelessness may not be recorded as being clinically vulnerable, even though they would meet this definition if they were diagnosed. Anyone living on the streets and many people who experience other forms of homelessness are by definition vulnerable.

With people newly becoming homeless, and the new strain of coronavirus increasing the rates of the disease, we are ready and willing to work with the government to expand the support available for people sleeping rough or in unsafe accommodation. With the success of Everyone In, local councils and charity partners have the experience of arranging self-contained accommodation, cohorting, and socially distanced support, and can act quickly.

As a result, we would like to work with the Westminster Government to expand the Protect Programme based on Everyone In principles. This will mean all local authorities once again fully funded to support everyone who needs it, regardless of immigration status, local connection, and priority need, into safe and fully self-contained accommodation. Given the increased transmissibility of the new Covid variant, it will be critical that accommodation is provided with individual washing and other facilities to avoid any need for shared spaces.

Once supported into self-contained accommodation, local authorities and support services can also work with individuals as they have continued to do so throughout the pandemic to provide a plan for move-on accommodation. We welcome the move-on options that have been developed as part of the original Everyone In programme and ask for a renewed emphasis on helping people into stable, long-term accommodation to help ensure that no-one is forced to return to the streets when coronavirus restrictions ease.

Ensuring people facing homelessness and frontline staff receive are vaccinated

These measures are urgently needed to not only protect people from the new strain of coronavirus, but to also support access for people facing homelessness to a coronavirus vaccine.

Priority for the vaccine to date has been predominantly based on age. However, parallels can be drawn between the vulnerability shared by the chronologically old and the biologically old, and while age is a key proxy for vulnerability to Covid-19, chronic homelessness could also be considered a valid and justifiable equivalent proxy.

For example, a recent study found that among a sample of homeless hostel residents in London, the levels of frailty were comparable to 89-year-olds in the general population. Participants had an average of seven long-term health conditions, far higher than people in their 90s.

Further, around a third of people who are experiencing the worst forms of homelessness would be deemed ‘clinically vulnerable’ and 1 in 10 would be deemed ‘extremely vulnerable’ to the virus. But unless people who are homeless and vulnerable to the virus are plugged into health services and reached with the vaccine, many people will remain at serious risk of the virus.

The increased threat for people facing homelessness is also recognised by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI). It acknowledges the health inequalities faced by people who are homeless and advises that a targeted approach will be needed including through the use of local Screening and Immunisation Teams. As such, we are asking the JCVI to prioritise people who are homeless in emergency accommodation, and frontline staff for vaccination due to increased risk of outbreaks.

This will need to go hand in hand with a comprehensive delivery plan to ensure people facing homelessness can access the vaccine. This should include access to people in provision provided by faith and community groups, or non-commissioned accommodation services such as those supported by the Homelessness Winter Transformation Fund.

Through an expanded Protect Programme which supports people into self-contained accommodation, people facing homelessness most at risk to the dangers of the new strain of coronavirus would be more easily identifiable, which would facilitate provision of the vaccine.

To ensure the success of such an approach, local health and social care teams can be involved in the support offered through the Protect Programme, by ensuring that enhanced infection, prevention and control measures are strictly implemented and adhered to across every facility accommodating people who are homeless.

Again, as delivery partners to local and national government, homelessness charities stand ready to assist the roll-out of vaccination to people facing homelessness and to front-line staff working in homelessness.

[1] Lewer, D. et al (2020) ‘COVID-19 among people experiencing homelessness in England: a modelling study’. https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanres/article/PIIS2213-2600(20)30396-9/fulltext

[2] Combined Homelessness and Information Network (CHAIN) reports: https://data.london.gov.uk/dataset/chain-reports

[3] Raphael Rogans-Watson et al. Premature frailty, geriatric conditions and multimorbidity among people experiencing homelessness: a cross-sectional observational study in a London hostel. July 2020.

Carl first became homeless after struggling to keep on top of the bills, rent and admin involved in his tenancy. He returned to his family home for a short time, but after a relationship breakdown he found himself rough sleeping for the first time. He was picked up by outreach services, and moved into supported accommodation in Croydon. Whilst there was support available, he struggled to engage. Carl chose to spend more and more time on the streets, begging and sleeping out overnight. Spending less time in the project meant that Carl was not engaging with the support to help him with benefits, his mental and physical health, and with his drug use.

Carl was then sanctioned by the Job Centre for not attending appointments, and with no source of income he built up service charge arrears, and was evicted from the supported project. With no source of income, and no space to call his own, Carl’s physical health deteriorated. His drug use then increased as a coping mechanism. This had a negative impact on his physical and mental health, and meant that he spent more time begging to sustain his habit.

While he was on the streets, he was helped by Croydon Reach, the outreach provision in the borough. They were able to check on his welfare, and worked to encourage him to return to the supported project, offering to help him clear his arrears. Croydon Reach could see that Carl would continue to choose rough sleeping, and that his health would continue to suffer as a result, so offered another option: Housing First. Housing First were able to meet Carl whilst he was on the street, and explain what they would be able to offer him; somewhere safe to live that was his own, and a support worker who would listen to him, and build personalised support around what he wanted to achieve. His own front door, and a safe space to rest and to reflect on his future, for the first time in a long while. Carl began to feel cautiously optimistic.

By building a good relationship with the team, Carl felt safe enough to open up about his patterns of use, so the team could find the best method of support for him. By breaking tasks down into small, achievable chunks, they were able to get his benefits sanction lifted, and Carl received his first Universal Credit payment in months. Seeing this result made him confident that Housing First really would be able to help him. Now that he had an income, he was able to move in to temporary accommodation, and very soon after this was offered a chance to view his Housing First property. The team were able to quickly arrange for carpet, white goods, and furniture to be fitted in the flat, to make it look like a home.

With regular, frequent visits to Carl when he first moved in, he told Housing First that he would like help engaging with local drug services. This was a huge step, and whilst overcoming drug addiction takes a very long time, he has remained linked in with the drug service, and taking his prescription since he moved into his flat, and has not been seen begging in his old usual spot since. Whilst Carl has not stopped using drugs altogether, he is using in a safer way, with minimised risk of harm. Spending less money on using has allowed Carl to invest in making his flat a home. He has also registered with a local GP and is beginning to focus on his physical and mental health. Carl has begun to reconnect with some of his family, and his home through Housing First has given him both the space and the confidence to do so. He hopes to start an online course in the New Year, and is hopeful that despite the adversity that 2020 has brought, 2021 will be his year.

This winter, we’re highlighting the work we’re doing to help these people move on and live more fulfilling lives. You can find out more about our Moving On From Homelessness campaign and the services supporting people like Carl by clicking the link here.

*image used is not that of Carl.

Photographs and writing created by members of the Deptford Reach community have gone on display at Deptford Lounge, as part of a project with arts charity Create.

Participants created the artwork as part of a 12-week project run by Create, and funded by the Deptford Challenge Trust. Guided by two professional artists, photographer Alicia Clarke and writer James Baldwin, the members of Deptford Reach explored a variety of photographic techniques (including reportage and still-life) and writing styles (including monologues and short stories) in order to express themselves and find their voice.

The resulting artworks are now on public display in the windows at Deptford Lounge until the New Year, and can be seen for free by passers-by.

“I’ve enjoyed every minute of the workshops,” said one of the participants. “I like to do different things with my mind, like using the camera, writing and all that. I enjoy coming here to do it because it gives me something to do instead of sitting down indoors all day doing nothing. It helps me with my mind doing different things.”

Deptford Reach’s ‘Speak With My Voice’ partnership with Create has been running 2008. The project gives vulnerable adults the opportunity to work creatively with professional artists and one another, using photography and creative writing to break down barriers, build relationships and trust, reduce isolation, enhance self-confidence and self-esteem, and have fun.

Nicky Goulder, founding chief executive at Create, said: “This important project gives vulnerable adults the opportunity to work creatively with our professional artists and one another, using photography and creative writing to break down barriers, build relationships and trust, reduce isolation, enhance self-confidence and self-esteem, and have fun. Never has this work been more important, at a time when everyone has experienced increased isolation, and it has been a privilege to enable these participants to express themselves and enhance their wellbeing over the past few months. I hope everyone enjoys the exhibition, which demonstrates their talent so wonderfully.”

Jordan McTigue, lead manager at Deptford Reach, said: “This year has seen our work at Deptford Reach look quite different. While we usually operate as a day centre, we are now providing a floating support service to ensure vulnerable people in the community are not further isolated by the pandemic. Taking part in creative projects is something we know is incredibly beneficial, and well received, towards mental wellbeing, and we’re really pleased that this exhibition with Create is taking place at the heart of the community.”

Alicia Clarke, Create photographer, said: “It has been my pleasure to facilitate photography workshops with attendees of Deptford Reach. Taking inspiration from some famous photographers’ work, and discussing the meaning behind images, were key parts of our workshops, and it was so inspiring to then see the world interpreted through the eyes of the participants. There were lots of diverse interests within the group and I feel that everyone found ways to express themselves, and to enjoy the work of their peers. We had so much fun!”

James Baldwin, Create writer, said: “The group chose to focus on screenwriting and adaptation, speech writing and rhetoric, monologues for theatre, poetry and song, and short stories. Across this display you’ll find the pieces of work that each writer feels represents their voice best. Like a photograph captures a single moment in time, the writer’s writing captures them on that day, in that mood, with those thoughts. A literary snapshot documenting unusual times.”

This Christmas, we’re delighted to be partnering with Social Bite, who are the largest deliverers of freshly made free food to people who are homeless in the UK. They have just launched their Christmas Meal Appeal in association with Just Eat, in order to provide up to 200,000 meals for homeless and vulnerable people over the festive period.

Until Christmas Day, whenever you order a takeaway from Just Eat, you can choose to donate at checkout and help provide a meal for people experiencing homelessness, with each donation being matched by Just Eat.

The Christmas Meal Appeal was officially launched this week by Helen Mirren, and is being supported by other well-known faces including Rob Bryden and Olympic gold medallist Chris Hoy.

The funds raised by the appeal are being distributed to a number of charities including Thames Reach in order to support homeless and vulnerable people this Christmas.

‘Thames Reach is honoured to be part of this campaign with Social Bite,’ said Thames Reach Chief Executive Bill Tidnam. ‘This year has been challenging across all our services helping vulnerable people away from street homelessness, but the efforts of communities coming together to help each other has been really encouraging.

‘Our work centres around helping people find decent homes, build supportive relationships and lead fulfilling lives, an important part of this is supporting people who are moving away from street homelessness, who are working hard to build a home, but who are often struggling with loneliness and isolation.  For them the idea of festive food is important, perhaps most importantly because of what it represents and we are very grateful to be one of Social Bite’s recipients this winter,’ he added.