Every quarter we plan to perform a survey to gain a better and more accurate insight into the demographic of who uses our services at the day centre, and to get more feedback on our services from our guests. For our first survey, performed from June to July of 2024, we wanted to look over what we’ve learnt.
Most of our guests (service users) are between the ages of 46-55, which is a lot older than the average age of a person experiencing homelessness. 75% are single, this unfortunately means that a majority of our guests may find themselves stationary on the waiting list for housing, as families are often prioritised over single people in this regard.
By getting a clearer idea of who uses our services we can better anticipate the needs of our guests and how our facilities can be used more effectively. We can do this even better by understanding the situations of our guests and what issues they may face.
Our survey found that 35% of our guests are currently rough sleeping, and 42% have been rough sleeping for one or more years.
According to the Rough Sleeping Snapshot from last year, ‘The number of people estimated to be sleeping rough on a single night in autumn 2023 is 3,898’. 65% of our guests reported to have suffered, or are currently suffering, with mental health issues, unfortunately this is a common issue as 45% of people experiencing homelessness have been diagnosed with a mental health issue. This rises to 8 out of 10 people who are sleeping rough. 50% have also reported to be suffering, or have previously suffered, with substance misuse, and 55% have reported having a family or relationship breakdown. Again, this is not uncommon, as one audit found that 19% of people experiencing homelessness cited a relationship breakdown as the reason.
Understanding the specific issues our guests face is essential to providing effective and meaningful support. By gaining a comprehensive understanding of these problems, we can work better when addressing them, allocating resources more efficiently, and ensuring our efforts have the maximum possible impact.
There are a number of ways that we at The Bridge support our guests, and we couldn’t manage it without the hard work of our case workers, mentors, and volunteers who work with our guests every day.
The results of our survey show that 75% of guests are currently receiving support from a case worker.
Our case workers help with so many issues, including providing advice for housing and benefit applications, connecting people to a GP or dentist, and referring people to mental health and wellbeing support. 50% of guests are currently receiving support from a case worker to access accommodation. Doing this requires one on one work between a case worker and a guest to first find supported, short term accommodation, and then to work on finding independent, permanent housing. 35% have said they are currently accessing mental health and well being support through The Bridge. This type of support is offered through a range of wellbeing projects, including Health, Dental, and Eye Clinics, Arts & Crafts, Music, Football, Mental Health Peer Support, Film Club, and days out. 35% of guests have told us they are currently using the GP and Dental Support offered. Another way we offer support is by creating a space our guests can use to sit, be warm, safe, and socialise, while getting breakfast, a hot drink, and a hot meal at lunch time.
81% of our guests told us they currently access hot food and drinks at our Community Cafe.
In conclusion, recognising different challenges that our guests face, from mental health struggles, to accommodation access helps us to tailor our support in order to make a more significant difference. We will continue our efforts to create a space that is non-judgemental, compassionate, respectful, reliable, and safe. Our goal is for a future in which there is no homelessness in Leicester, and our guests have all moved on to a place of hope. By continuing to carry out our quarterly surveys, we can measure the results of our work to ensure we are always headed in the right direction.
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