Christmas is coming! Our virtual advent calendar is launching on our social media channels today, featuring original poetry written by people with lived experience and performed by service users, volunteers and members of the SSJ team.

The poems communicate different aspects of homelessness, covering topics including drug misuse, mental health issues, and addiction recovery.

The calendar also shows how you can donate to specific causes, such as buying a hot meal or a Christmas gift for our service users. Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter (X) to unveil the advent doors throughout December!

This Christmas, Society of St James aim to raise £15,000 to help support people experiencing homelessness in Southampton, Portsmouth and across Hampshire. We hope that this appeal will help to break the stigma surrounding homelessness and fund essential services and support for vulnerable people this Christmas and throughout the year.

SSJ will be working with local businesses to encourage fundraising events such as Christmas Jumper Days and cake sales to help reach our £15,000 target. The charity urges businesses to share photos of their fundraisers on social media, tagging them and using the hashtag #SSJChristmas.

Chief Executive Trevor Pickup said:

 “Homelessness is a complex and often misunderstood issue that affects thousands across our region. Many people face stigma, discrimination, and isolation because of their housing situation. They are often blamed for their own misfortune, or ignored by society.

But we believe that everyone deserves dignity, respect and compassion. That’s why we are launching this campaign to raise awareness and funds for our work with people who are homeless and are facing multiple problems. We want to show them that they are not alone, that they are valued, they have hope for the future and that we will carry on supporting them despite what can often present as a protracted and cyclical journey to independence.”

To get involved, visit our social media channels today, or visit our dedicated Christmas Appeal page to view our fundraising packs and learn more about our fundraising goals.

SSJ provides a comprehensive range of services, including hostels, transitional housing, substance misuse services and an academy of life skills classes, volunteering, sport and craft opportunities. By successfully implementing these services, the organisation challenges the stigma associated with homelessness, provides support and rehabilitation, and promotes sustainable solutions to reduce the number of individuals experiencing homelessness.

We are looking for Trustees who are as committed as we are about tackling social disadvantage and supporting people to realise their full potential. To enhance our current Board of Trustees and continue to develop our governance, we are looking for individuals with a breadth of key skills, knowledge and experience in the public or private sector, but particularly in the following areas:

• • housing
  • property
  • environmental issues
  • fundraising
  • finance

Current Trustees describe their role within SSJ as enriching and rewarding.  In exchange for their time and commitment, new Trustees can expect to:

• Help set the strategic direction of a £15 million organisation, employing over 350 people across Hampshire
• Make a valued contribution to the charity sector
• Acquire new insights, broaden their experience and meet new people
• Contribute to the development of others through the sharing of skills and experience

If you are interested in learning more about this opportunity, please contact Nicky Cantello on 023 8063 4596 or nicky.cantello@ssj.org.uk for a full Role Description and/or an informal discussion. You can also download the role description HERE.

Richard and Travis at SURA HQ

Today I caught up with committee members, Ann and Travis, to find out about the development of our new Service User and Residents Association. SURA as it is now fondly known, opened its metaphorical doors under the expert eye of SSJ’s Service Participation Lead, Richard Le Peuple during the latter half of 2021.

Today, SURA has a strong committee of 6 including a chair (Travis), vice-chair (Simone) and secretary (Ann) and 12 registered members, all of them either current SSJ residents or service users. Together they have developed and signed-off their constitution and have designed and released their own website.  They are accountable directly to the board and have their own office and equipment here at our head office in Albert Road.

This is a really exciting development for SSJ and demonstrates a commitment to ensuring service user participation influences all levels of decision making and activity.  Already the SURA committee have played a significant role in providing Service User and Resident views on new service design, reviewed key policy and procedure documents, sat on interview panels and organised focus groups.  They conducted the first annual survey with recommendations and told us that 84% (n.100) of tenants interviewed felt that SSJ “treats all tenants with fairness and respect”.  This will shortly become a requirement for all housing associations to publish these results.

I asked Ann and Travis what they hoped to achieve through SURA and Anne summed it up really with “we want to give service users and residents a voice”.  I also asked them if their perception of SSJ had changed since they took up their positions on the committee, Travis told me “It’s much bigger than I thought it was”.

Richard, SSJ’s participation lead told me that he is:

“very proud of what we are building here. We now have a committee that are keen to get things done and give service users and residents a voice.  I see my job as being able to provide the knowledge and training the committee need to feel confident and able to influence the betterment of SSJ”

So, what next for SURA?

Well later this year they will be joining manager’s across SSJ to take part in our annual internal quality audit.  They will ensure that service users and residents can give unfettered feedback about the quality of services they receive across a range of quality standards. SURA committee members involved will then make recommendations to senior managers and the board on how the quality of SSJ’s services can be improved upon.

From my perspective, I am so proud to hear colleagues say things like “well we need to get SURA involved in that” or “can we ask SURA to help us with that?” when I am out and about in the services.  As an organisation we must be willing to embed their work at every opportunity.

Funding

We are extremely grateful to Southern Co-op for providing some seed funding back in 2021 which allowed us to turn SURA from a pipedream into a reality.  And we are extremely grateful for the donations received from the community that have helped establish SURA as a really important, but independent, part of SSJ.

Read about the services provided to our service users and tenants.

SSJ Newshound

HRH The Princess Royal was in Southampton on Friday to officially open a care home of the Society of St James.

HRH met staff, residents and Board members and heard about the work of the charity.  She also cut a cake to celebrate the organisation’s 50^th anniversary.

Trevor Pickup, the Chief Executive said “This visit has been a great encouragement to staff, who have worked incredibly hard over the last few years.  The words of encouragement from The Princess were really appreciated”.

The Society of St James provides specialist services for people with backgrounds of homelessness, substance misuse and mental health issues, and has projects in Southampton, Portsmouth and across Hampshire.

The Charity was founded in 1972 when it ran a night shelter in Bernard Street, Southampton and later a soup run.  Over the 50 years it has grown significantly and now houses over 500 people and provides support to an additional 1000 people, in a range of services.

Visit the Care Homes webpage to find out more.

Read a past story about Rodney, one of our Care Home residents.

You can follow the live updates below

6th October (Southampton)

4th October (Portsmouth)

I’m writing this at a time where the most vulnerable in society are being impacted by a national emergency, the cost of living crisis.

Recently the Office for National Statistics announced another record breaking increase to the rate of inflation.  This is obviously going to have an impact on many people across the country in the coming months and SSJ also needs to consider the impact on us as an organisation.

Costs are rising across a whole range of items, including food and household items, gas and electricity, fuel and travel as well as costs linked to maintaining our houses.  Many of our costs are the same as those incurred by any ordinary household.  We run a number of housing projects in order to accommodate as many people as possible, and the cost of running these services is steadily increasing.

We are also dependent on having wonderful staff who work hard to provide support and care to those we are seeking to assist.   Our staff are faced with same increases to their costs of living and may need to be paid more as a result.  We are also conscious that with the general shortage of staff in many sectors, we need to be able to offer increased salaries, otherwise we will not be able to fill our vacant posts.

We are also concerned about the impact of this on our service users and clients.  Many are dependent on welfare benefits, which are also not keeping up with inflation.  The challenges of trying to live on Universal Credit have been well publicised and can become an additional burden for those who are trying to resettle into the community after having been homeless.

For example, we are pleased to be able to offer some people the chance to move from shared accommodation into their own flat.  However, this process will often trigger a new benefit claim, which takes a number of weeks to be processed.  Therefore, people who are moving into a flat often immediately struggle to put money in their fuel meters and to buy their initial food.   

We are able to use some of the donations we have received to provide a food parcel and help with the gas and electricity.  However, once someone has moved in and their benefits have been received they still need to budget incredibly carefully to manage within their weekly budget.  We anticipate this will become more and more of an issue in the coming months.

This blog was originally sent out via our Newsletter last month. If you want to read the latest news first, you can subscribe to our newsletter here.

If you want to support SSJ, you can donate here – or email fundraising@SSJ.org.uk

You will be responsible for providing administrative support to the leadership teams across St James Care (Radstock Rd and Linden House) including the management of the Covid testing regime. You will develop an understanding of IT systems including Nourish (Care planning/case management system) and play a role in training and inducting new staff in these systems.

Working hours are expected to be Mon – Fri Office hours.

The ideal candidate will be organised and methodical. They will be able to work within a busy environment and as part of a team. Good team player, reliable with a passion for working with people. This is a very rewarding position for the right person.

This is an exciting opportunity to play a part in the successes of our wonderful care homes.

Apply Here

The Society of St James are delighted to have been awarded the contract to continue providing substance misuse services and recovery housing for Portsmouth residents on behalf of Portsmouth City Council.    We have partnered with Inclusion (Part of the Midlands Partnership NHS Foundation Trust) to deliver a service focused on helping our clients make their lives better.

The contract has now started and we are launching our new website www.portsmouthrecovery.org to support a more accessible service.  Please visit the site to find out more or if you’re concerned about your drug or alcohol use, or affected by someone else’s.

We’re going to be running a new feature where we talk to our members of staff about their work at SSJ and why they love working here.

We have hundreds of members of staff from unique and interesting backgrounds, some have been with us for years, others have come to us because they believe in our vision to end homelessness – and some have been service users for SSJ and now work with us to support others in a similar situation to what they were in.

Today we have a blog written by Sean Smith, a team leader for SSJ who works with some of of the most vulnerable people at SSJ. Sean has been with us a few years and wanted to write about why he loves working for SSJ.

Sean Smith:

I have worked with a variety of vulnerable adults and children across Hampshire for 22 years. After frequently working in partnership with them for many of these years, in 2019 I was lucky enough to land myself a job with the Society of St James. I had applied for positions previously, and it was no secret to my now-boss that I had been desperate to join him at SSJ for aeons, but hadn’t found the right vacancy that suited my skillset and experience.

All of a sudden, the chance to take the reins of a pioneering “housing first”-style service came to my attention. It was a no brainer and I applied. Getting the phone call to tell me I was successful was a moment of sheer elation. Next thing I knew, I was working for an inclusive, supportive charity that felt more like a family or a group of old friends than what I had experienced previously. Then, of course, the entire world went bonkers and we all faced a two-year period the likes of which we could have never imagined.

Throughout the uncertain, often desolate, always challenging pandemic period, I was privileged to be tasked with guiding and building the Supported Lettings Team, which provides intense, almost bespoke, psychologically and trauma-informed support for clients with long, chequered histories of homelessness, complex substance misuse and mental illness. I had moved from a businesslike, politics driven prior role to one where I looked forward to waking up each day to find out what the day held in store, working alongside and hopefully helping to nurture a team of dedicated, talented and hardworking staff.

The pandemic was a challenge we all met head-on, and gave me and my team some work experiences that we will probably never encounter again. Having to face scowling faced members of the public as we bulk shopped dry goods for our clients in supermarkets. Driving around the City trying to find hand sanitiser. Finding hand sanitiser that was made from a premium brand of gin.

Administering so may lateral flow tests that I could probably now do one with a blindfold on. Attempting to try and enforce a litany of social distancing rules and regulations with clients that have no intention of following protocols. Discovering the magical, buffering-tastic hinterland that is the online meeting. I loved it all really. I wouldn’t want to do it all again though.

I was privileged to be tasked with establishing not one but two brand new services for the Society, which are still going strong and in the case of the Supported Lettings Team, have expanded. I have had an amazing opportunity to work with some of the most unique, complex and rewarding clients. I now have some fascinating partnership working with a specialist NHS team, and work within a sector and with clients that very few people ever get to experience.

I am based in a beautiful house that has been developed and renovated with an eye on providing a homely, psychologically informed environment. I am seeing positive results. I see amazing staff doing amazing things with people that have gone through unimaginable trauma in their lives. I am so proud to be a part of it. Every day is different – I continue to encounter learning opportunities and am broadening my knowledge and experience at every turn, supported by a wonderful staff and a supportive management structure.

Coming to work for SSJ is the best decision I ever made. I am now in a role that combines all of my previous experiences, with the added responsibility of guiding and supporting other staff. With the successful tenders and expansion within Hampshire and beyond, I work for an organisation that I am genuinely proud of, and will happily sing the praises of each and every service under its umbrella from the rooftops.

Thank you to Sean for taking time to write about his work at SSJ

There are many ways to support SSJ, you can donate to help support people without a home, find out more about other ways you can support us, or if you are like Sean, maybe you’d like to work for SSJ – and you can find out about jobs we have available here.

This year has been an exciting year for us though, not only is it our 50th anniversary – meaning we have been supporting people affected by homelessness for 50 year – but we have also been incredibly lucky to be able to engage with our supporters and hear some of the incredible stories you’ve told us about your support.

The beginning of the year started just as it has ended – with our service users enjoying the incredible backpacks put together by Fair Ways. This wasn’t the firs time they had supported us at Christmas – and the backpacks went down a treat with our service users.

We were also delighted to tell you about the modular home – something that has given one of our service users a space to enjoy – his own little home. His feedback has been that this has been ‘game changing’ for him – giving him the independence he craved.

Recently, we shared the news that our volunteer Craig had won an award for the work he has done to support people at SSJ. We are so proud of Craig and we just want to tell this story again and again.

And more recently, we heard that our care homes had been praised by care watchdogs. We have so much more to tell you about our care homes – with so many exciting stories coming out – we will get to those next week. But for now, we are so proud of the work done by our care homes and we’d love if you could tell people about the work we do. 

We’re still buzzing about the music video, written and created by residents at Linden House – supported by the SOCO music initiative.

Thank you

We have a number of news stories coming up that we cannot wait to share with you. Thank you to everybody who has supported us in 2022 – there is still so much more to do – so why not support us – and importantly – those affected by homelessness.