Homeless hostel in search of shelter from the storm

Published: 30 July, 2010

• OUR charity hostel for the homeless, Shelter From The Storm, has to find new premises as we have to leave our current home in Elmore Street, Canonbury, by August 16.

The building we have occupied for two years was sold about three weeks ago and since that time we have been searching high and low for an alternative property.

Shelter From The Storm is a unique organisation and a model of how all shelters should operate in this country.

We have about 40 guests and operate six nights a week.

The Shelter is manned completely by volunteers and not one person receives a penny for their work.

Every penny goes to our guests.

Our guests are treated very badly on the streets.

They are bullied, abused and robbed on a regular basis and we provide them with shelter.

For our women guests (at the moment we have 10), being on the street is even more dangerous, for obvious reasons.

As an example, we have one woman guest with us at the moment who is 62 and epileptic.

She regularly goes into hospital and is released to us when deemed medically fit.

If we are closed she will be released onto the streets.

We also have a 19-year-old girl who was sleeping in the park with drunks, which is where she will have to return if we don’t find an alternative building.

The Shelter picks up those who have fallen through the cracks in the benefits system.

We provide a home-cooked meal, clothes, benefit and housing advice, therapy, chiropody and breakfast in the morning, but most of all we provide a place for our guests to be safe and with people who will care for them.

We get to know all our guests very well during their stay.

They arrive destitute and hopefully leave some time later reborn and ready to be self-sufficient.

We have a tie-up with Pret A Manger, which takes some of our guests and trains them for its shops.

Our shelter is a very positive place and has a unique atmosphere, which is why we are desperate to find a new building for our needs.

So far, we have contacted several local landlords, institutions like Notting Hill Trust and NHS Islington, to see if they have anything for us.

The NHS does have an empty building which would suit in Pine Street but it will not let us use it.

It says it cannot make a decision until after a meeting on September 2 but by then our guests would have been on the streets for more than two weeks and we will lose many.

We need 6-12,000sq ft of space in Islington or nearby.

The council has said it would grant us temporary planning permission so this is not an issue.

Ideally, we would like to take a five-year lease but will look at terms from 12 months.

We can also pay a reasonable rent as we have received donations for this particular point.

But what is most important is that we are ready to go by August 15.

If readers can help or have any ideas, please contact me urgently at sf@stephenandmatthews.com 

STEPHEN FIXMAN
Shelter from the Storm