Thames Reach is a London-based charity working with people who have experienced homelessness or who are at risk of homelessness.
Thames Reach states that its vision is of a society where street homelessness is ended and nobody need sleep rough on the streets. Its mission is to help people who are homeless or vulnerable to find decent homes, build supportive relationships and lead fulfilling lives. The charity's vision is of a society where street homelessness is ended and nobody need sleep rough on the streets. [1]
Thames Reach provide a range of services to vulnerable and socially excluded people, many of whom have experienced homelessness, or who have been at risk of homelessness. The organisation's roots lie in working with rough sleepers in London and it has, since inception in 1984, delivered a range of services primarily related to preventing, and supporting recovery from rough sleeping.
Thames Reach provides:
The organisation was founded in 1984. As of 2023, it had its an average of 393 members of staff over the previous twelve months, and 244 volunteers. The organisation helped over 12,000 people across London over the course of 2022-23, working across every London borough. [2]
The Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) is a UK charity that offers information, support and advice to people in the UK with sight loss.
Mission Australia is a national Christian charity that provides a range of community services throughout Australia. It has its roots in the Brisbane sector of The British and Foreign Bible Society’s sub-committee, The Colporteur Society (1869), and Sydney City Mission (1862), but was only officially established in 1996, bringing together a number of city missions across the country. The organisation specialises in the areas of homelessness and housing, families and children, early learning, youth, employment and skills, substance abuse, disability, mental health, and strengthening communities. Sharon Callister has been CEO since March 2022.
Focus Ireland is a nonprofit organisation based in Dublin, Ireland that provides services for people who are homeless and people at risk of homelessness in Ireland. It was founded by Sister Stanislaus Kennedy in 1985, and is one of the largest housing and homelessness organisations in Ireland. It provides services in Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Kilkenny, Sligo, Kildare, Carlow, Tipperary, Wexford and Waterford.
Medical Emergency Relief International (Merlin) is a former British international non-governmental health charity which sends medical experts to global emergencies.
The Rough Sleepers Initiative was an initiative by the Government of the United Kingdom's Rough Sleepers Unit (RSU), which resulted from a campaign by St Mungo's, a London homelessness charity, called National Sleep Out Week. It was designed to accommodate homeless people with emergency hostels.
Homelessness in Australia is a social issue concerning the number of people in Australia that are considered to be homeless. There are no internationally agreed upon definitions of homelessness, making it difficult to compare levels of homelessness across countries. A majority of people experiencing homelessness long-term in Australia are found in the large cities of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth. It is estimated that on any given night approximately 116,000 people will be homeless and many more are living in insecure housing, "one step away from being homeless". A person who does not obtain any shelter is often described as sleeping 'rough'.
In England, local authorities have duties to homeless people under Part VII of the Housing Act 1996 as amended by the Homelessness Act 2002. There are five hurdles which a homeless person must overcome in order to qualify as statutory homeless. If an applicant only meets the first three of these tests Councils still have a duty to provide interim accommodation. However an applicant must satisfy all five for a Council to have to give an applicant "reasonable preference" on the social housing register. Even if a person passes these five tests councils have the ability to use the private rented sector to end their duty to a homeless person.
Nacro is a social justice charity based in England and Wales. Established in 1966 from the previous National Association of Discharged Prisoners’ Aid Societies, it became the largest criminal justice-related charity in England and Wales. In the 1970s Nacro also became involved in policy discussions with the British Government, particularly with the Home Office, which has responsibility for prisons and probation services. Since 2011, its strategy has focused on extending its high-level influence at government level, with commissioners, policy makers and practitioners, and increasing its partnership work.
The Queen's Nursing Institute (QNI) is a charity that works to improve the nursing care of people in their own homes in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. It does not operate in Scotland, where the Queen's Nursing Institute Scotland performs a similar function. The QNI is also affiliated to the Queen's Institute of District Nursing in Ireland. The QNI is a member of the International Council of Nurses.
Homelessness in the United Kingdom is measured and responded to in differing ways in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, but affects people living in every part of the UK's constituent countries. Most homeless people have at least a modicum of shelter but without any security of tenure. Unsheltered people, "rough sleepers", are a small minority of homeless people.
Homelessness, also known as houselessness or being unhoused or unsheltered, is the condition of lacking stable, safe, and functional housing. The general category includes disparate situations, such as living on the streets, moving between temporary accommodation such as family or friends, living in boarding houses with no security of tenure, and people who leave their domiciles because of civil conflict and are refugees within their country.
Cambridge House is a voluntary organisation in Southwark, London.
Youth Off The Streets is an Australian non-denominational not-for-profit youth organisation. The organisation works with young people and their families and communities in an endeavour to create safety, offer support and provide opportunities to build a positive future.
The Passage, founded in 1980, runs London's largest voluntary sector day centre for homeless and vulnerable people helping over 200 people every day to access diverse services, including primary services, housing and welfare advice, health services and employment and training services. The Passage have a supporting team of Street Link workers who make contact with those sleeping rough to see what can be done to help and have been running a 48-bed hostel, Passage House, since 1 March 2000. The Passage also run Montfort House, which contains 16 self-contained studio flats with on-site staff support for those preparing for independent living.
Louise Casey, Baroness Casey of Blackstock,, is a Crossbench peer and former British government official.
The St Mungo Community Housing Association, working as St Mungo's, is a charity registered in England to help homeless people.
Homeless Persons' Week (HPW) is an annual event publicizing the plight of homeless people in Australia. The event is held in the first full week of August each year, and is coordinated by Homelessness Australia, the peak body organisation for the Australian homelessness sector. Government and NGOs aim to change the public understanding of homelessness as being a problem beyond street sleepers. Primary homelessness, or people sleeping rough, is not the only form of homelessness in Australia and is not representative of the true state and scale of the homeless population. Of the 105,000 people in Australia who were estimated to be homeless at the last census, about 16,000 (15%) were sleeping rough on the streets. The others are those living in other unsuitable housing or in homeless shelters.
The Whitechapel Centre is a homeless day-centre and registered charity in Langsdale Street, Liverpool, England. Established in 1975, it works with people in the Liverpool and Sefton areas, offering advice and information about housing. The centre is open 12 hours a day for 365 days a year. From 2018 until the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, the Whitechapel Centre also offered a night shelter, Labre House.
The Museum of Homelessness is a community-driven social justice museum, based in London, and created and run by people with direct experience of homelessness.