Our Charity Partners
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Glassdoor
As London’s largest emergency winter night shelter, Glass Door (formerly WLCHC) provides a safe, warm place to sleep for up to 100 men and women a night in partnership with churches across Hammersmith, Fulham, Kensington, Chelsea, Barnes and Putney. Homeless guests also access advice, food, showers and laundry facilities year-round from the Chelsea drop-in day centre. Glass Door not only saves lives by providing refuge from the cold, they also help homeless men and women find more stable futures.
St Columba’s has been supporting Glass Door since they began in November 2000; we are one of the founding member churches of the charity. St Columba’s hosts a shelter every Sunday night from November through to April, providing a venue and team of volunteers. A typical evening would require you to be there from 6pm to 9.30pm. Roles will include cooking, meeting, greeting and generally looking after our guests. We are looking for a pool of volunteers as we are aware that people will not be able to commit to volunteering every week. The shelter provides 35 homeless people with a place to sleep, a hot meal, breakfast and a person to talk to – people who would otherwise be cold, wet and lonely sleeping on the streets. If you are interested in volunteering or would like any further information, please contact the Church Office on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
For more information on GlassDoor please visit www.glassdoor.org.uk.
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RESTART is a small, London-based charity whose objective is to help homeless men and women to break the cycle of homelessness, move from the streets, confront the issues obstructing their futures and return to independent living, feeling empowered and resilient.
Services
Drop-in:
Whilst the provision of food is only one component of the support offered by RESTART, the drop-in is a key part of its operations as it enables guests, volunteers, mentors and staff to get to know one another, share information and give advice, whilst enjoying a hot meal together weekly.
When? Friday evenings: 6.30pm - 8.30pm Where? St. Columba's
Pont Street
Knightsbridge
SW1X 0BDWho? All are welcome (homeless, temporarily housed, permanently housed). Mentoring and Access to Counselling:
Once getting to know guests at the drop-in, a range of other services are available to guests. The Mentoring Programme involves staff and trained volunteers being paired with a guest to assist, support and advise with practical matters including CV-writing, interview practice, budgeting and access to benefits. This personalised relationship ideally lasts months - 1 year to allow for sustainable changes to be be made.
In partnership with counsellors and psychotherapists from 96 Harley Street who provide pro-bono support, RESTART are able to help and refer guests with mental health issues for professional assessments or therapy.
Employment and Accommodation Support:
RESTART’s ‘Taskforce’ Programme is ideal for guests seeking to work. Approximately 80 hours of voluntary ‘tasks’ are undertaken by guests, in a workplace setting, to develop confidence, work-readiness, achieve a good reference and receive feedback and guidance from local employers.
Upon completion, mentors/staff will support with job applications, the transition back into work and in sourcing and securing temporary or permanent accommodation. Once guests have moved in, regular visits to guests in their home or near their workplace allows advice to be given about savings, utilities payments, cost-effective shopping and general catch up.
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Borderline
As the only charity specifically set up to support homeless Scots in London, Borderline’s vision is that every Scot will have a home and receive the support they need to lead a healthy, independent life.1 in 2 Scottish clients have been seen rough sleeping across at least two consecutive years [CHAIN, 2019]. Homeless Scots are, by definition, a disadvantaged group, but the problems they face go beyond having nowhere to sleep. Our clients face complex long-term support needs, from diagnosed mental health issues to drug and substance misuse.
Our Scottish Outreach Worker project offers one-to-one support to homeless Scots for as long as required. This frontline pan-London street outreach services provides:
- Access to a range of accommodation options across London;
- Referral paths to specialist drug, alcohol & mental health services;
- Financial grants for clothing and home starter packs;
- Advocacy support;
- Help to claim benefits and budgeting support;
- Helpline and drop-in service;
- Facilitating reconnections with family if appropriate.
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St Columba’s has been such a huge supporter of our frontline work with homeless Scots over the years. Thank you for all you do to help spread awareness and for your continued generosity.
To help provide a vital lifeline to a Scot in need, please consider joining the Saltire Donor Club and giving a monthly gift, whatever the size. Now more than ever, you can help someone to take the first steps to rebuild their life away from streets and into safe and secure housing.
For more information about our latest work, please visit our website https://www.borderline-uk.org/.
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ScotsCare is a modern charity with a 400 year-old history, providing emotional, financial and practical support to Scots and their families in Greater London. We support three client groups, children and families, working age adults and older people with a wide range of services from financial support, advocacy, counselling to sheltered housing, training and job coaching and much more.
ScotsCare has evolved from being a grant giving organization to offering clients a more holistic approach, which begins with a needs led assessment to provide direct services or signposting to specialist support services.
Our clients continually struggle to break free from the cycle of poverty, facing a combination of linked issues, such as unemployment, poor skills, low incomes, poor housing, bad health and family breakdowns.
We support these clients by providing them with services that will allow them to address difficult situations, which will hopefully enable them to improve their own lives and future opportunities for them and their families.
We have identified that clients of all ages may encounter loneliness and isolation, in particular among our older clients. Through our social events, befriending service, sheltered housing and our recent ScotsCare choir programme. We aim to offer clients a sense of bellowing within the London Scottish community.
