We asked Chris Francis, Chief Executive of the Upper Room (above), which shares part of the St Saviour’s building, to update us on their work and share the amazing things they’re doing for people in our area.
St Saviours and The Upper Room have a long history. In fact, as many of you will know, we were born of the Church, when John Wheeler, the vicar in the late 1980s, and his wife Brenda, sought ways to support individuals coming to them for help. A soup kitchen was established. Over the years our work has developed, changed and adapted to the world around us, and we now play a significant part in the local community in our own right.
That core work of providing food remains the main way that people find us. We have always supported people experiencing homelessness, and will continue to do that, but it is important to recognise that homelessness means more than sleeping outside. The majority of people accessing our Meals service are based in hostels, temporary accommodation or supported housing. We also see an increasing number of men and women in private rented accommodation coming to us who struggle to make ends meet.
But this crisis resolution work is only a part of our mission. The Upper Room has long been known as a place for individuals to get help with accessing the employment market, and our Jobs project has been running for over 10 years. It supported nearly 100 people in this endeavour in the past 12 months. Our caseworker is constantly busy helping people with their CVs, sending applications, as well as finding training and education offers ranging from accessing basic English lessons through to vocational qualifications and university courses.
Alongside this, our mental health service, UR4Counselling, offers 6-12 sessions of a range of support, from behaviour management and life coaching through to cognitive behavioural therapy and integrative arts therapy. We are delighted to have some new funding to enable growth here, by adding a new Clinical Manager to the team.
We also work extensively with people with convictions, and young people who have been identified as being ‘at risk’, through our award-winning and innovative UR4Driving project. This sees us provide one to one coaching, guidance and support as individuals work to pass their driving theory test, complete 80 hours of voluntary work in their community, and then move on to practical lessons and two attempts at a practical test. This project is a real life-changer, and one we believe has the potential to grow significantly. Indeed just this year we have expanded our work to South London, as we look to extend its reach.
So, as you can see, this is a huge amount of growth from the humble soup kitchen!
And we know we can and must do more.
The cost-of-living crisis is all around us, and nowhere are the effects of it felt more keenly than among our guests. We have seen a near doubling of the number of people coming to see us since January, and the volume of work we are doing now is what we would ordinarily expect in the autumn and winter, when we would typically be at our busiest. This inevitably leads us to brace ourselves for a very busy second half of the year.
We are actively looking for volunteers to join us across all areas of our work; in the different projects we run, but also in our support functions such as administration and fundraising. We would love to hear from you if you want to get involved. You could be helping prepare the food in our kitchen, or serving it to guests. You might help guests with paperwork as they fill in benefits forms or apply for new ID documents. Alternatively, you could be a mentor to one of our students in the Driving programme, helping them learn the rules of the road. We even have regular 5-a-side football matches for staff, volunteers and guests if that’s more your thing.
And as you are already an interested and engaged member of the local community (why else would you be reading this!?) then perhaps you might help us raise those vital funds we need to keep up with the work.
I am incredibly proud of the work we do, and love how well embedded we are in our local community. Why not come and join us?
Chris Francis
Chief Executive, The Upper Room
You can apply to be a volunteer at The Upper Room by completing our application form here or by emailing uradmin@theupperroom.org.uk