Bristol Homeless Week: Women’s night shelter

Bristol Homelessness Awareness Week has been set up to raise awareness of homelessness, those at risk of becoming homeless and the issues facing rough sleepers. A number of organisations, including Spring of Hope the only self-referral shelter for women in Bristol, are opening their doors this week to show how they support the city’s homeless.

“Without Spring of Hope I would have been on the street, and that terrifies me,” says ‘Jennifer’. Her story shows just how perilously close each and every one of us is to becoming homeless.

In 2011 she had her hours cut at work and found herself unable to afford the rent. Delays processing her housing benefit claim meant she lost her flat – Jennifer and her son found themselves homeless.

“You are supposed to be there to look after your kids. And all said and done, I failed.”

Jennifer says she is happy now and comes back to “help the shelter, because the shelter has helped me. I do the housekeeping here and I volunteer”

She found her son a hostel place but found herself ‘sofa-surfing’ between friends: “With each friend I stayed two or three weeks and I would circulate round my friends and bed and breakfasts. I had nowhere to go.”

Jennifer was put in contact with Spring of Hope and she lived at the centre until January this year, when she found a room at her workplace in Patchway.

Even though she now has a base, Jennifer’s experience of homelessness is ongoing and traumatic.

“I tend not to dream. I want to be settled somewhere in my own place,” she says.

The charity can offer 12 women shelter five nights a week

Spring of Hope, run by Crisis Centre Ministries, is the only self-referral women’s night shelter in Bristol. Others can only be accessed if you have lived in Bristol for two years and are referred.

“If a woman was stranded tonight she could come to Spring of Hope without the entry criteria,” says manager Val Thompson. “That is important to be able to give vulnerable women a safe refuge.”

The charity offers a bed to women as young as 18 and as old as 73, who have been sleeping rough.

When women come to the shelter it is “usually their last port of call because other doors have been closed or they have been misunderstood,” Val adds.

“We are a temporary safe refuge for women suffering from domestic abuse, mental health problems, family and marriage breakdown, alcohol and drug addiction, prostitution and refugee status.”

15 volunteers and two members of staff provide shelter for women five nights a week (Sun–Thurs), every week of the year including the Christmas/New Year season

But they don’t just offer a bed says Val: “We also provide listening support, appointments to specialist help, encouragement for them to reconnect with family members, loads of practical provision – clothing, toiletries, sleeping bags.

“Through listening support, we build up trust with each client to be able to offer further support to break the cycle of homelessness.”

“All the women who have come through Spring of Hope are pointed in the right direction,” says Jennifer. “They are helped on their way to or supported accommodation, shared accommodation or their own accommodation.

“I was at Spring Of Hope for 16 months and during that time I was also working. My shifts started at 6am in the morning so to get to work I left at 3am.

“It’s not easy, you put the brave face on and off you go. It’s not been helped by the fact that there aren’t the facilities for people to go to during the day so you wander. And you sit down and someone comes along and says ‘you can’t sit there.’ But why can’t you sit there? You are not doing anything to anybody.”

In 2015 Spring of Hope provided shelter and refugee to 144 women – but it can only operate five days a week, on a first come first serve basis.

“The most challenging part of my job is finding enough volunteers to man the shelter,” says Val. “I am full-time and we have a part-time assistant manager but we can’t do all the nights and the daytime support. So we do rely on enough volunteers to be available to man this service.

“Our greatest need is volunteers who are willing to be duty managers on a night. Our other challenge is funding as we are totally reliant on voluntary donations.”

“I stayed at bed and breakfasts or with friends when Spring of Hope was closed,” says Jennifer. “Somebody, somewhere should be providing more facilities for homeless women.”

“Everywhere you look in Bristol, the facilities are male-oriented. And this charity can only take 12 women five nights a week.

If you would like more information about volunteering opportunities at Spring of Hope or other Crisis Centre Ministries centres more information here.

If you are aware of a person that is rough sleeping, please contact Streetlink by clicking here.  A member of their team will make contact with the person to help them into emergency short stay accommodation.