'We offer a stepping stone from homelessness into other more secure accommodation.'
Hitting home: Maggie Allder on a Winchester project
‘We aim to offer friendship and a safe place to live.’
When Winchester Friends bought a beautiful old building to serve as their Meeting house in 1974, it was with two purposes in mind: to house vulnerable people, and a place for Quakers to meet. The house still serves both purposes today. As well as a small flat for a warden, we have seven bedsits for single people in grave risk of homelessness.
The project is supported spiritually by the Local and Area Meetings, but on a day-to-day basis it is run by a small group of Winchester Quakers. We provide short-term tenancies, priced below market value, so that people get used to budgeting for when they move on. We offer a stepping stone from homelessness into other more secure accommodation.
The group running the project has a number of duties, all necessary to enable it to run smoothly. We routinely meet once a month, but often more. We interview potential residents, consider practical matters, and review policies and practices, which change endlessly as legislation changes.
Our tenants are referred to us through the local authority, and before they are offered a tenancy they are interviewed. They come to us for a variety of reasons. One tenant told us that she needed to get away from an abusive, violent relationship; another told us of an all-too-common situation where a private landlord evicted five people with only a month’s notice. More and more, we find ourselves interviewing people who have been evicted by the council themselves, because the person whose name was on the rent book has died or been evicted. We aim to offer friendship and a safe place to live, but not formal emotional, psychological or financial support.
Despite the obvious disadvantages of living in a house of multiple occupancy (HMO), in a building which also serves a worshipping community and hosts a number of hirers, we almost always have a waiting list.
Our tenants’ comments are generally very positive. One said, ‘The Meeting house offers a safe place where you can feel human again. There’s time to heal, a sense of belonging, it’s somewhere away from worry and stress.’ One of the ‘pros’ of living in the Meeting house, according to one tenant, is that ‘It’s a secure place with a friendly, non-judgemental community and people I can talk to.’ Our warden was told ‘It’s affordable – utilities and broadband are included in the rent, and this has allowed me to get back on my feet financially. I’ve saved enough to be able to afford a deposit on my next place.’
British Quakers have been challenged at both Area and national level, to consider how we are perceived by those who are not connected to our worshipping communities. In Winchester we are seen by some, perhaps especially on our larger and poorer housing estates, as people who offer help in times of housing need. It is, possibly, the thing we do as a local church which has the biggest impact on our city.
