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CHARITYappeal
SHELTER FROM THE STORM Bath charity Julian House, which provides shelter for the city’s homeless, has launched a campaign to improve its accommodation – with the hope that in future it will no longer have to turn away as many vulnerable women from its shelter
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he current economic climate and ever- changing shifts in society has led to more people than ever finding themselves without a permanent home. Bath’s homeless charity, Julian House, has a vital role to play in providing somewhere out of the physical danger of the streets for men and women to stay. In order to continue to help people back into mainstream society, the charity needs to update its accommodation and has launched a £420,000 improvement project. One of the biggest impacts of improving Julian House’s night shelter will be to be able to offer overnight accommodation to more women. At the moment the shelter only has beds for three women and, as a result in the last 12 months 28 women had to be turned away at the door. Julian House was founded in 1987. It opened its emergency night shelter accommodation in Manvers Street in 1993. The semi basement premises have served the charity well over the years and undoubtedly helped to save lives – particularly during the bitterest cold nights of winter. However, staff and management are aware of the shortcomings of the building. People are sleeping in public dormitories, which doesn’t allow them any privacy. It can also make some feel nervous about their belongings, so despite the very positive work that goes on there, the environment can have a destructive effect.
dormitories are not the best way ❝ to support homeless men and women in the challenging journey from the streets back into mainstream society
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With such poor levels of privacy and only three beds for women this means some of the most vulnerable clients spend longer on the streets and even those who can access the facilities are deprived of their dignity. Some people are very reluctant to use dormitory accommodation because of their vulnerabilities. It was originally hoped that a new building could be found but this has not proved possible. Instead a four-month refurbishment will turn what is essentially a large dormitory and small female ante room into individual client sleeping quarters. There will also be better space for client key working, improved kitchen facilities and a day area/refectory with more natural light than at present. Julian house’s chief executive, Peter Denning, said: “It has long been recognised that dormitories are not the best way to support homeless men and women in the challenging journey from the streets back into mainstream society. Indeed this is one of only a handful of dormitory style hostels anywhere in the country. We know for sure that some of the most vulnerable clients won’t come into Julian House for that reason. “Another problem with the existing building is that we can only accommodate three women – when we know that there are many more who need our support. Last year we had to turn away 77 different individuals – of whom 28 were women. That’s a desperate statistic. “A lot of consultation has gone into the planning for the new facilities. This will mean fewer rough sleepers risking their lives 46 THEBATHMAGAZINE
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AUGUST 2012
on the streets, improved quality of support and speeding up the process of getting our clients into sustainable accommodation.” Even though the upgrade works will be a massive improvement on the existing facilities, four months of construction will cause considerable disruption to the charity’s work. During this time the emergency night shelter facility will move next door to the basement of Manvers St Baptist Church. Peter Denning is full of praise for the church’s support: “We are indebted to Manvers Street Baptist Church for hosting the night shelter during the building works. Finding another building of the right size and location would have been a massive headache for us, on top of everything else.” During the time when the charity was looking for a new building, investment in the existing premises was held back. The fact that alternative accommodation was only available during