| Abbreviation | St Mungo's |
|---|---|
| Type | Registered charity |
| Purpose | Supporting homeless people |
| Headquarters | 3 Thomas More Square, Tower Hill, London E1W 1YW |
Region served | Southern England |
| Website | mungos.org |
The St Mungo Community Housing Association, working as St Mungo's, is a charity registered in England [2] to help homeless people.
St. Mungo's Community began as a splinter group from The Simon Community which was started by a former probation officer Anton Wallich-Clifford and was unique among organisations for its success in alcoholic recoveries. This was essentially due to its controversial approach of allowing drinking actually on the premises. The lease for the East End shelter in Sclater street was ending and it was at a time when shortage of money drove the Simon Community into constant reorganisation. However, due to the services of Conservative MP James Allason, the chairman of the East End house managed to break through the almost impenetrable bureaucracy that surrounded the London County Council. Unaware that it was for a new charity they offered the short lease on a house in Home Road, Wandsworth, which was due to be demolished in two years time.[ citation needed ]
Harry Stone had a choice of two people for the job of warden. One was the warden of the closing Simon wet house and the other was a young ambitious worker at the Simon headquarters. The warden at the time was a reformed alcoholic and it was therefore felt he might not be able to withstand the considerable pressure he would likely be under. Jim Horne was chosen. Horne agreed to become the new Chairman while Harry Stone became secretary, treasurer and fund raiser.[ citation needed ]
Horne ridiculed the suggestion the enterprise should be called The Home Road Hostel and pressed for the name St. Mungo's. Being Scottish, he believed the powers of Glasgow Cathedral might be persuaded to make an ample donation if it was named after their patron saint. It proved to be a false hope. But otherwise Horne's enthusiasm and ability drove St. Mungo to increasing success. Among his early helpers was Graham Parr who in turn broke away to start up the original Vauxhall Broadway hostel. Due to the enlightened support of Wandsworth Council, even though they had never been officially informed of the occupation in Home Road, the Mayor opened the second house, which was also in Home Road.[ citation needed ]
St. Mungos gained the interest of the Department of Health and Social Services and Jim Horne persuaded the Head of the Department and the Minister Sir Keith Joseph to spend an evening on the soup run. The department subsequently offered major financial support so that the Community could become an experimental embryo for further possible development. The organisation was later completely reorganised. Qualified accountants, medical practitioners and psychiatrists were appointed as additional trustees. Out of this it soon became clear that whenever either of the original Trustees held opposing views or questioned Horne's dealings, the new Trustees backed Horne since he had the responsibility for the daily running.[ citation needed ]
In the late 1960s, it faltered. Its management started cutting back and so, in May 1969, its soup run was to be ended. [3] The soup run was a nightly distribution of soup in six locations in London's West End where homeless rough sleepers or "dossers" gathered. This was provided by Wandsworth Council for a nominal rent and in 1970, the council provided three more houses nearby. The fourth house was used as an office by the developing organisation. [3]
A large hostel, accommodating up to 200 people, was started in a disused Marmite factory in Vauxhall in 1973. [4] [5] This large building had previously been notorious for the strong smell of the production process. [6] In the same year, another large hostel was opened on a short-life basis in Suffolk Street, off the Strand, formerly the Charing Cross Hospital. The hospital had been relocated to Fulham and Jim Horne negotiated cheap terms for occupation of the old building with the Greater London Council pending its conversion to a police station. [7]
There was a schism in the organisation in 1979. Jim Horne left and the organisation split into three. The Charing Cross hostel was managed by a new charity — St Mungo's Community Housing Association until closed due to its insanitary condition and replaced by a refurbished building in Endell Street, Covent Garden. The Marmite hostel became Bondway Shelter, registered as a separate housing association. The St Mungo's Community Trust then focussed upon the soup run and partnered with other organisations, such as the Shepherd's Bush Housing Association, to open a hostel in Fulham. In 1980, the soup run was passed on to the Bondway organisation and the original trust now operates as Hestia Housing and Support. It was renamed to avoid confusion with the St Mungo's Community Housing Association, which operates as "St Mungo's". [8]
Today St Mungo's has grown and developed a wide range of services becoming the largest charity dealing with the homeless in London. [9] In 2010, it provided a bed for over 1500 people each night. [1] By 2011, they managed over a hundred sites across southern England providing accommodation in hostels, group houses and independent units or offering other services to the homeless. [10]
The charity has pioneered a variety of novel programmes and initiatives.
Bricks and Mortar provides the homeless with training and experience of bricklaying. ReVive is a similar scheme which develops other building skills such as plastering and decorating. [11]
The LifeWorks project started in 2008, providing psychodynamics psychotherapy to homeless people, especially those who are addicted to drugs or alcohol. [12]
The Putting Down Roots project enables the homeless and hostel dwellers to develop gardens and other horticultural features. It was started by Martin Snowden for St Mungo's in 2000 and has been sponsored and supported by a variety of partners. In 2012, it was still going strong with Jonathan Trustram leading the development of gardens at St John's Church, Waterloo and other places. [13] [14]
In 2009, for the 40th anniversary of the organisation, a project was started to record the oral history of the homeless. Six clients were given training in this and they then interviewed other clients, recording the history of their time on the streets and other recollections. These were then presented in an exhibition at the LSE and the results were then archived in Southwark Library. [15] [16]
In March 2018, St Mungo's confirmed to the The Guardian newspaper that it had cooperated with Home Office immigration, compliance and enforcement (ICE) teams, who were responsible for identifying rough sleepers who were deemed as living in the UK illegally. [17] The North East London Migrant Action group said: "The role of homelessness charities should be to uphold the rights of vulnerable people. St Mungo's have forfeited the trust of asylum seekers and other migrants who sleep rough by working with the Home Office who have people deported from the UK." [17]
While acknowledging that their outreach teams had worked with the Home Office, St Mungo's said that their role was to protect the rights of the homeless: "We took the decision that it was better to be there to provide support to vulnerable people sleeping rough than not be able to advocate for them at these times. Our role should not be confused with that of enforcement agencies." [18]
From 27 June 2023 workers at St Mungo’s started an indefinite strike in a dispute over pay. [19] The workers accused management of a shocking dereliction of duty towards the homeless and the charity’s own staff. [20] The organisation has also been charged with fostering an internal culture of corporatism and cronyism, with particular focus toward CEO Emma Haddad's background working for the Home Office, Borderforce, and the DWP. [21]
Shelter is a registered charity that campaigns for tenant rights in Great Britain. It gives advice, information and advocacy to people and lobbies government and local authorities for new laws and policies. It works in partnership with Shelter Cymru in Wales and the Housing Rights Service in Northern Ireland. The charity was founded in 1966 and raised 48.2 million pounds in 2020/21.
The Society of St James is an English charity based in Southampton, providing accommodation with care and support to homeless and vulnerable people. The Society began in 1972 by establishing a night shelter for homeless men in St James’ Church Hall, followed by a soup run in the city.
Focus Ireland is a nonprofit organisation based in Dublin, Ireland that provides services for people who are homeless and people at risk of homelessness in Ireland. It was founded by Sister Stanislaus Kennedy in 1985, and is one of the largest housing and homelessness organisations in Ireland. It provides services in Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Kilkenny, Sligo, Kildare, Carlow, Tipperary, Wexford and Waterford.
Centrepoint is a charity in the United Kingdom which provides accommodation and support to homeless people aged 16–25. The Prince of Wales has been a patron of the organization since 2005; his first patronage. His mother Diana, Princess of Wales, was patron of the organization before she died.
The Rough Sleepers Initiative was an initiative by the Government of the United Kingdom's Rough Sleepers Unit (RSU), which resulted from a campaign by St Mungo's, a London homelessness charity, called National Sleep Out Week. It was designed to accommodate homeless people with emergency hostels.
Catching Lives is a charity based in Canterbury, England that assists rough sleepers, the homeless and those in insecure housing. It relies on donations, volunteers and fundraising within its local community. As of 2011, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams was patron.
Homelessness in Australia is a social issue concerning the number of people in Australia that are considered to be homeless. There are no internationally agreed upon definitions of homelessness, making it difficult to compare levels of homelessness across countries. A majority of people experiencing homelessness long-term in Australia are found in the large cities of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth. It is estimated that on any given night approximately 116,000 people will be homeless and many more are living in insecure housing, "one step away from being homeless". A person who does not obtain any shelter is often described as sleeping 'rough'.
In England, local authorities have duties to homeless people under Part VII of the Housing Act 1996 as amended by the Homelessness Act 2002. There are five hurdles which a homeless person must overcome in order to qualify as statutory homeless. If an applicant only meets the first three of these tests Councils still have a duty to provide interim accommodation. However an applicant must satisfy all five for a Council to have to give an applicant "reasonable preference" on the social housing register. Even if a person passes these five tests councils have the ability to use the private rented sector to end their duty to a homeless person.
Thames Reach is a London-based charity working with those suffering from homelessness.
Homelessness in the United Kingdom is measured and responded to in differing ways in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, but affects people living in every part of the UK's constituent countries. Most homeless people have at least a modicum of shelter but without any security of tenure. Unsheltered people, "rough sleepers", are a small minority of homeless people.
St Patrick's Church is an Anglican church in Hove, in the English city of Brighton and Hove. Situated on a narrow site at 3 Cambridge Road, off Western Road close to the boundary with Brighton, it is still in use as a place of worship. Since 1985 St Pat's developed a special ministry with homeless people, setting up a night shelter and a homeless hostel. In 2012, St Patrick's night shelter was closed. The homeless hostel continues to operate under new management, and is currently run by Riverside Housing Association. The church closed as a parish in 2015, and was then entrusted by the Bishop of Chichester to the Chemin Neuf Community under a Bishop's Mission Order. The leader of the Chemin Neuf Mission at St Patrick's is currently the Revd Tim Watson.
Heather Kay Wheeler is a British Conservative Party politician, who was first elected at the 2010 general election as the member of Parliament (MP) for South Derbyshire, taking the seat from the Labour Party after 13 years.
The Passage, founded in 1980, runs London's largest voluntary sector day centre for homeless and vulnerable people helping over 200 people every day to access diverse services, including primary services, housing and welfare advice, health services and employment and training services. The Passage have a supporting team of Street Link workers who make contact with those sleeping rough to see what can be done to help and have been running a 48-bed hostel, Passage House, since 1 March 2000. The Passage also run Montfort House, which contains 16 self-contained studio flats with on-site staff support for those preparing for independent living.
Louise Casey, Baroness Casey of Blackstock,, is a British government official working in social welfare.
The Simon Community is a charity which helps homeless people, taking its name from Simon of Cyrene. It was founded in 1963 by Anton Wallich-Clifford, who had encountered many homeless people while working for the Probation Service at Bow Street Magistrates' Court in London. Wallich-Clifford was influenced by the work of Dorothy Day and her Catholic Worker Movement in the US, and his original vision was to establish a farm and community in Sussex. However, local protests prevented this and the organisation developed as a chain of houses and night shelters run by local volunteers. The Simon Community was co-founded by political activist Eddie Linden.
Homelessness NSW is the peak body organisation representing homelessness services in New South Wales, Australia. Homelessness NSW advocates on behalf of agencies and homeless people across NSW, with a particular focus on single men, single women, families and children.
The Homeless Foundation is a registered charity based in the West Midlands with the aim of eradicating homelessness across the United Kingdom. It was founded in 2007 and is run by a board of trustees.
The Whitechapel Centre is a homeless day-centre and registered charity in Langsdale Street, Liverpool, England. Established in 1975, it works with people in the Liverpool and Sefton areas, offering advice and information about housing. The centre is open 12 hours a day for 365 days a year. From 2018 until the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, the Whitechapel Centre also offered a night shelter, Labre House.
The Museum of Homelessness is a community-driven social justice museum, based in London, and created and run by people with direct experience of homelessness.
Jim Home founded St Mungo's, a hostel in a former Marmite factory in south London...
In December 1973, this shelter was supplemented by a much larger building, an old Marmite factory in the south London district ...
St Mungo's is the main provider of services for London's rough sleepers.