Our Winter Night Shelter came to an end a couple of weeks ago after nearly 3 months. Just over 20 people came through the doors over that time staying at various church halls across the local area.
The shelter provided a safe place of community for people who would have otherwise been out on the streets. More than 200 volunteers helped by cooking meals, welcoming them, playing cards, staying awake overnight and much more.
Many of the guests found accommodation while being on shelter, others didn’t have somewhere be the time we closed. However, we are pleased to share many of them are now in places they can finally call home.
We can’t do any of this without you!
I
ndividuals, businesses, schools, churches and the councils have donated money or essential items to fund all the vital items we need to run the project. Thank you from the guests and from all of us at Renewed Hope to everyone who has made it possible.
The Winter Night Shelter will be open again in December with preparations starting in the Autumn, but in the meantime, it’s business as usual at our Drop-In daytime support at Shrewsbury Chapel. In the past 6 months we have served nearly 3,000 meals to 206 people there. Roughly half of those people were homeless. We’ll also be running our usual street collections and taking part in community events in the coming months.
Thank you for all your support.
Watch video on You Tube here.
Staff from local agencies have shared with us how our Renewed Hope’s services make a difference to the community through the work of our volunteers.
East Surrey Outreach Service works with rough sleepers across 4 Surrey boroughs. They are often at our Drop-In meeting their clients.
One of their keyworkers said, “I am blown away by how wonderful the volunteers are, the food is always cooked with such love. They are an inspiration, giving their time to serve sometimes difficult service users. It makes my heart so warm to witness the shared love. As for the service, what would our clients do without this safe warm and loving place. The drop-in service is priceless.”
“It makes my heart so warm to witness the shared love.”
Another one of the team shared, “Contributions of Volunteers and Staff of RHT go beyond the hours you spend; they touch lives and inspire hope. Every meal served, every bed prepared, and every supportive conversation held creates ripples that extend far into the future of those we all serve. The time and love you give freely rebuild lives and mend spirits. Thank you for being such an essential part of the Redhill community. Your work truly matters, and it’s important to remember that each gesture of help and every hour of service contributes profoundly to the wellbeing of the Service Users.
Renewed Hope is a one of its kind in East Surrey. There is no other night shelter or day support centre for homeless people in the area. Another ESOS worker said, “It’s such a great resource to have Renewed Hope so close and so welcoming to both ESOS and its guests. Working alongside you and all the supportive, helpful volunteers is helping to reduce homelessness in East Surrey. Well done and thank you for your excellent work!!”
“The time and love you give freely rebuild lives and mend spirits.”
Our night shelter returned this past winter giving accommodation to 30 period over 12 weeks from December to February. We work closely with locals councils to help support the most vulnerable and those who would otherwise have nowhere to go.
One of the housing officers said, “You (all at the charity) were non-judgmental and accepted him. No one else would do that. There was no where else who would take him.”
It’s always nice when you hear back from people who we’ve supported. This is from Alex, one of our residents who recently moved out of Hope House.
“I want to say a huge thankyou to you all for keeping me off of the streets, out of danger and for all the help on so many different things over these past few months. I hope I’ve left the room in the best of states for you to quickly move someone new into. You have all gone above and beyond in the speedy growth and re-development for me and I’d never be able to repay your kindness, but I hope one day to be able to support the charity in some form. I won’t be a stranger to the drop-in centre and wish you all the very best in your ventures both charitable and personal.
“Lots of love from me and my children
”
Alex stayed with us for just a few months; enough time to find his feet, get an apprenticeship and the confidence to go for it.
It is normally at this time of year that we start training volunteers to run our Winter Night Shelter. It’s not been possible for 2 years due to the Covid restrictions and during the break the whole charity and sector has had a hard think about how best to support homeless people to get the most positive outcomes.
And this changing landscape of homelessness provision across the country, means floating night shelters are now a things of the past. Government and local authorities have seen the difference single room accommodation makes to someone.
There’s a lot going on at Renewed Hope and our work is needed more than ever.
The East Surrey Winter Night Shelter has been an invaluable service helping hundreds of people at their lowest. We can’t thank our supporters enough for your contribution towards its success.
As with many things, Covid prevented the shelter from running, however it was also the catalyst for changing how all services approach supporting homeless people. With this change in landscape, now is the time to say farewell to the Winter Night Shelter.
This does not diminish how much it transformed people’s lives. In fact, its absence revealed just how much of a difference it made.
Locally, the councils have had the funding to put everyone in B&B throughout winter.
At Renewed Hope we opened a supported house for four previously homeless men and we give them tailored support to prepare them for independent living.
Also Drop-In has become the support hub we always wanted from moving into our own space. The homeless outreach service ESOS hold triage sessions here, SES Water come to check are getting the discounts they are entitled to and the NHS have held health clinics and there is more planned.
And the demand for Renewed Hope has never been higher. We are seeing about 50 people in the Drop-In each month, More and more, they are struggling with mental illness, addiction, financial difficulties and so we’re currently putting our resources into expanding Drop-In services further.
Renewed Hope’s long-term ambition remains to open a larger property for homeless men with higher needs – a gap in local provision identified by many agencies. This requires funding, expertise, not to mention a property in the right location!
Please spread the word and if you would like find out more about fundraising, volunteering or anything else, please get in touch on info@renewedhope.org.uk or 01737 886997.
Thank you for your support.
That was a question I was asked in a recent Winter Night Shelter Network forum attended by homelessness charities and church shelter projects from across the UK.
Once again Covid put a spanner in the works for communal shelters such as our East Surrey Winter Night Shelter and we were all reflecting on what difference they make to not only homeless people, but to the community as a whole. After 2 years of doing something different are communal shelters a thing of the past or is the idea worth pursuing as a cost-effective emergency solution for people finding themselves homeless in the coldest months?
In Reigate and Banstead, the council funded B&B places for local homeless people most nights and they also took in any homeless person when temperatures went below freezing. Some shelter charities across the same thing. However, having a bed for the night is only half the story.
“The great thing about Winter Night Shelter is that it brings together the community in a unique way and has a life changing impact on all involved.”
In the Network meeting, charities who ran a B&B model highlighted that it missed a key element brought by communal shelters. The great thing about Winter Night Shelter is that it brings together the community in a unique way and has a life changing impact on all involved.
Something special happens when a teams of volunteers give up their evening, night or breakfast time to help someone who has lost everything. Likewise, it is important for those of us fortunate to have a roof over our heads to be reminded how close we are to being in their shoes.
People who find a temporary home on our night shelter become part of a new community where they feel safe, feel accepted and as a result grow in confidence and hopefully leave the shelter in better stead to secure a long-term tenancy in the social or private rental market.
Volunteers are given a glimpse of the multiple reasons which lead to someone being on the streets – past trauma, job loss, relationship breakdown, domestic abuse, leaving foster care. For some it is simply that the dots in the system don’t join up. For example, someone leaving prison with nowhere to go next.
Is sleeping on a mattress on a church hall floor an ideal option? Of course, the answer is no.
Surely having your own shower and private room in a B&B is a better solution to provide a short-term solution to seasonal homelessness? There we have more shades of grey.
Where there is privacy there is also isolation. And in that isolation, the risk of mental illness, self-harm increases and as a result further infringement.
As our Winter Review this week revealed, the absence of of the Winter Night Shelter hasn’t stopped us making a difference to lives of homeless people in different ways. We have welcomed into the Drop-In no fewer than 40 people either living on the streets or in temporary accommodation. Some of them took the offer of having an evening meal with us too. Notably, we opened our first supported accommodation house for 4 homeless men which gives them the opportunity to focus on themselves and equip them with the life-skills to sustain their own tenancy.
Who knows what the future holds for Night Shelters. Conversations are ongoing nationally in government and the charity sector about Winter 2022/23 and beyond.
I do believe though that community has been poorer as a result of not having Winter Night Shelters.
We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and good health and special times for the New Year.
It has been a busy year for Renewed Hope and we thank you for all your support. A lot has been achieved and we couldn’t have done it without you.
Here is a summary of our highlights for 2021.
• Guests supported – 196 guests, including 54 homeless people and 10 refugees
• Number of sessions – 357
• Total guest visits in Drop-In – 3,692 visits
• Visiting agencies – ESRA, ESOS, Surrey County Council, Parashoot, i-access, Surrey Care Trust, Raven Housing, Therapy Dogs
• New activities include hairdresser visits, Drop-In choir, monthly guest feedback forum, laptop loans, employment workshops
• Covid vaccination clinics – 5
• Covid testing demonstration – 1
Staff team: Andrew Tyers, Anna Coe, Samuel John and Yvonne Dover
• In May we appointed our first Support Worker, Sam John. This has meant we’ve been able to give our guests more consistent support and it has freed up Anna and Yvonne to their roles. Sam’s contribution to the charity has strengthened and broadened our relationships with partners and has been more effectively able to follow up on referrals and link guests with the right agency for their needs.
• In July, we appointed Andrew Tyers as Fundraising Co-ordinator to replace Mary-Anne who moved on in the Spring. As well as extensive fundraising experience, Andrew has worked in charity housing management which is coming in very useful for our latest project – Hope House. One of his first grant successes was getting around £20,000 of the Government’s Homeless Winter Transformation Fund, which is helping us offer a longer-term solution to local homelessness, Hope House – see below.
• In the autumn Anna and Sam gained Level 2 Qualifications in Self Harm and Suicide Awareness and Prevention.
• Andrew, Anna and Sam have been trained in Trauma Informed Care. We aim for all our support of guests to take this approach acknowledging everyone is different and therefore each guest needs an individualised approach to their support.
• All staff and three mentor volunteers have been trained in Outcomes Star, an online tool which will enable guests to see how much progress they have made through their struggles since first coming to us.
This week we got the keys to Hope House, a property in Redhill where we will house 4 homeless men!
We will work with them to get ready for permanent accommodation and help them work on their individual challenges, such as mental illness, addiction or unemployment. This is a long term project which has been an ambition of Renewed Hope for years and it will mean we can make a much bigger difference to people’s lives.
We hope for it to be open in January 2022.
Covid has once again put a hold on Winter Night Shelter, but this winter we are offering evening meals to homeless people and those who find evenings a real struggle mentally. Please get in touch if you know someone who might benefit from this service on info@renewedhope.org.uk
Project Co-ordinator Anna Coe with the keys to Hope House
This week we got the keys to Hope House, a property in Redhill where we will house 4 homeless men!
We will work with them to get ready for permanent accommodation and help them work on their individual challenges, such as mental illness, addiction or unemployment. This is a long term project which has been an ambition of Renewed Hope for years and it will mean we can make a much bigger difference to people’s lives.
We hope for it to be open in January 2022.
Thanks to our brilliant volunteers, we are running a near normal Drop-In service over the Christmas period. Bank holidays are weekend hours. The office is open Monday to Friday for enquiries and support info@renewedhope.org.uk or 01737 886997.
A few weeks ago, you may remember we appealed to our supporters about a house to rent or buy. We are now pleased to announce we have our first ‘Hope House’ in the pipeline and awaiting completion.
This has been made possible by a new partnership with a national charity called Green Pastures, which buys houses and supports churches and Christian charities to run them as supported accommodation for the homeless. An offer was accepted a couple of weeks ago on a 4-bed house and if all goes well, we are hoping for it to be ready for guests in January.
This timescale is exciting because the Government and councils have confirmed Night Shelters are an unsafe option for accommodating the homeless this winter. Instead the council will be using bed and breakfasts for immediate needs. Our house will be targeted at men who need that extra support to get ready for longer-term housing.
Additionally, this partnership with Green Pastures enables us to fulfil our long-held ambition to run year-round accommodation to homeless people.
To make all this possible we need your help in the following ways:
– Evening volunteering (6.30pm-9.30pm) both in the house and preparing and serving evening meals at some of our winter night shelter churches.
– Funding to cover the increased running costs of the charity. Please click on the here to set up a standing order or a one-off gift.
– Last but not least, we need your prayers. We have not yet reached completion, so please pray the process goes smoothly and all work following completion runs to schedule in order for us to get our first homeless guests housed in January.
Thank you for your support.
We need your help in finding a 3-4 bed house to buy or rent and we need it soon! We are plan to use it to open our first supported house for homeless people this winter.
With Covid still around, Winter Night Shelter is not going to be possible. However, Government has given us some funding to run alternative accommodation.
Here are two ways you can help:
What? A house to sleep 4 people (possible conversion of a reception room in a 3-bed house if needed). Ideally more than one bath/shower room.
Where? Redhill or Reigate, within walking distance of the Drop-In, but we’d consider any properties in the borough on good bus routes.
How much? Maximum £425k or £2,000pcm for rental. We are happy to negotiate rental for the right property.
Email hopehouse@renewedhope.org.uk or call 01737 886997.
You can contribute towards the start-up and running costs of our new project. Go to our website a click the donate button on the website https://www.renewedhope.org.uk/
This is your chance to help us make an even bigger difference to the lives of homeless people in the borough.
Thank you for your continued support of Renewed Hope!
Renewed Hope Trust (registered charity number 1161502).
Registered Address: Shrewsbury Chapel, Shrewsbury Road, Redhill, Surrey, RH1 6BH
Copyright © Renewed Hope 2026. All rights reserved.
