13 June 2008
Thames Reach has been awarded £250,000 of Government money to revamp its Graham House hostel in Vauxhall.
The charity has been running a hostel in the Vauxhall area for London’s homeless for over 25 years – firstly with its Bondway shelter which opened in 1979 and secondly with its successor, Graham House, which opened in 2001 and was state-of-the-art at that time. Over that period, thousands of the capital’s rough sleepers have been helped to take the first steps off the streets and towards a better future.
The current hostel provides a place to stay for 69 former rough sleepers, many of whom have alcohol issues. Staff at the hostel help residents to come to terms with their problems and then to move into more long-term accommodation.
The money – from the Communities and Local Government ‘Places for Change Programme’ – will be used to update the building and to end the hostel’s institutional feel.
Audrey Mitchell, director of street and hostel services at Thames Reach, said: “We’re aiming to create a building where residents can feel at home, rather than feel they are in some form of ‘institutional home’.
“The reception area will be opened up, the institutional lighting and flooring will be removed, whilst new training facilities and meeting rooms will be developed.”
Audrey Mitchell added: “Those aspects of the physical environment in the existing building which help build up an ‘us and them’ culture between staff and residents will be removed. Our work isn’t about containment and clinical effectiveness, it is about empowering people and helping them turn around their lives.”
She added: “We want the surroundings to provide hope and encouragement and to enhance the residents’ lives. Backed up by the support residents receive from staff, we hope that they will develop a different outlook on life – looking to get back into training and work and moving on to live independently in our local communities.”
