Hackney Winter Night Shelter: The Importance of a Warm Welcome

- words by Anya

Hackney Winter Night Shelter provides a hot meal and a warm bed for homeless guests who would otherwise be sleeping on the streets during the coldest winter months.

HWNS was founded around  1993 by a group of Hackney residents who wanted to help homeless people in the local area. The shelter runs every night of the week between November and March and, through the provision of professional and holistic support, strives to provide a route out of homelessness for every individual in need living in Hackney.

As part of its commitment to help its guests rebuild their lives, the shelter works to address the practical stumbling blocks that often prevent people from finding a route out of homelessness. This includes, working with local agencies to find them more stable accommodation, and other support such as providing travel cards so that guests can attend important appointments providing move-on packs to help them settle into new homes.

Chair of trustees Andrew Hudson has been volunteering at HWNS for 15 years. Below he discusses the importance of the charity.

Hi Andrew! Tell us a little about your background and your role at Hackney Winter Night Shelter?

I grew up in the Birmingham area, and have lived in London since university. My career was in public services, mostly in Whitehall but with four years in local government, and I did a mix of policy and operational work. These days, I do a mix of non-exec roles, in housing and in charities. I’ve volunteered with Hackney Winter Night Shelter for 15 years or so, becoming a trustee in 2013 and chair of trustees in 2014.

Why is helping Hackney’s homeless community something you were keen to be involved in?

I can still remember the shock of coming down to London as a teenager in the 1970s, and seeing people sleeping in doorways. If that was happening in Birmingham at the time, I hadn’t seen it. I wanted to do something about it and joined the night shelter not long after I moved to this area in 2001.

The number of people forced into homelessness is expected to more than double to half a million by 2041. What are your reflections on this?

We all need to take action now to help reverse this trend. It’s hard to predict what will happen by 2041, but the problem is all too clear today.

Why is it important to offer guests holistic support rather than just a meal and a bed?

For an event in 2016, we asked a former guest to tell her story, anonymously. One of the things she said was this. “When I first walked in I was so scared but one of the link workers found me and was so welcoming. It was so nice to be out of the cold, sat down, safe, and with a warm drink! It was a relief not be so on guard.”

Listening to homeless people, I’ve learnt that this sense of being insecure, and often being ignored or worse, is a huge problem, alongside the physical problem of lack of shelter.  So it’s essential that we offer a warm welcome and create an atmosphere where guests have a chance to relax in between stressful days. 

What does this support involve?

Our mission is to provide a route out of homelessness, not just to keep people off the streets for a period. So our two advocate workers, who are paid members of staff, will talk to guests, understand their wishes and their circumstances, identify options for more suitable accommodation, and advocate on their behalf. This work is integral to what HWNS is all about.  

How do guests secure a place at the shelter?

They can be referred by a wide range of organisations that come into contact with homeless people – other charities, the council, or sometimes health bodies. The advocate workers will then assess whether their needs are such that we can safely and sensibly look after them.  Often we have a waiting list, because there are more potential guests than spaces.

Where are the night shelters held? Do they change on a weekly or daily basis?

The shelter takes place in church halls and it’s a different hall every night of the week. It doesn’t have to be a church hall – we would look at other venues – but so far we have found enough suitable churches who are generous enough to let us use their halls free of charge.

What does a typical night at a shelter look like?

The guests arrive between 7.30 and 8pm. There aren’t rigid times after that, but usually dinner will be served at 8pm or a bit later, and the guests will be turning the lights out around 10.30pm. We start fairly early in the morning, as we need to be out of the hall by 8.30, so breakfast is served from about 7am, and the guests leave by 8am.  

How important are the volunteers to HWNS?

Volunteers are absolutely essential to the running of HWNS. We have four staff (two of them part-time) and maybe 700 volunteers. From about 8.30 each night until the shelter closes the following morning, the organisation is entirely in the hands of volunteers. They also contribute in other ways – in fundraising, handling communications or doing the laundry. So there are a number of ways to get involved, depending on people’s skills and wishes.

How many volunteers are needed to run a shelter for a night?  

Let’s add it up. So, for a night after Christmas, when we run two venues each night, assuming we have the full complement:

– Six “welcomers” at the first shelter, to get the place ready, chat to the guests when they arrive, and serve the meal
– Two cooks
– Three overnighters at the main shelter (ideally four)
– Three overnighters at the dormitory
– Four breakfast cooks (across the two venues)
– Six people to clear up in the morning.

So that makes 24 altogether.  I’m very grateful that so many people choose to spend their time volunteering for HWNS.

Can you tell us about the HWNS’s commitment to inclusivity? What does this mean for guests and volunteers?

It means that we welcome guests and volunteers from all backgrounds equally.  We don’t make judgements about why people are homeless, or probe too deeply into their past life. We just see whether we think we are able to help them.

How is the shelter funded?

We don’t seek or get government money, so we have to raise every penny ourselves. Some of this comes from grants from local and national foundations, some from donations, and some from events such as the upcoming comedy night, Belter for the Shelter on 7 February, and the Hackney Half-Marathon in May.  If anyone would like to run for us, they would be very welcome – we had 50 runners last year, and need at least that number again. I’m a keen runner myself and had to miss last year’s with a knee injury, but am optimistic about being back for 2018.

How can people get involved in the HWNS and help with fundraising?