Who can come to St Anne’s?
We have an open-door policy. This means that anyone can use our Centre. In practice, most of the people who come here are street homeless or people living in hostels or temporary accommodation. Some use us for just a short period of time, while others come regularly.
We welcome everyone who comes as long as they are willing to keep drugs, alcohol and arguments away from the Centre, be polite to staff and volunteers, and respect other clients. We want this to be a safe space where everyone can relax.
What will you find at St Anne’s?
A warm welcome, and plenty of good food to eat. Come to the Centre and get a ticket before noon to be sure of getting lunch. We ask for a donation of up to 50p if you can afford it, but if you have no money (perhaps because your benefits have been stopped or for other reasons) we will still give you a ticket so that you can have lunch. You can also owe until you get paid.
We keep a stock of toiletries – shower gel, shampoo, soap, razors, toothpaste and toothbrushes. Talk to our Manager, Shelley, and she will get some for you. We also have socks and some underwear. We occasionally have coats and sleeping bags, so it’s worth asking if you need these.
If you want to talk to us about your situation, we will listen without judgement, and if you want we will signpost you to other services which may be able to help you.
Other services
We sometimes have people coming in from other services – for instance Mind, the St Mungo’s outreach team and NHS nurses. Haircuts4Homeless come in to the Centre once a month offering free haircuts and they’ll also trim beards. Off the Fence also comes regularly with its mobile laundry van.
