We are located at 43 Melton Street, Leicester. Leicester has 22% of the population living in income deprived households and our Centre is based in an area of the City which suffers the results of high levels of poverty. Our clients are amongst the most marginalised people in the City and often have other complex issues in addition to, or as a direct result, of being homeless. Some will have been excluded from mainstream services or do not access them because they feel stigmatised.
We began our mission to the disadvantaged in 2009 when a group of local Christians started providing an outreach ‘Soup Run’ service to homeless people in Leicester. Today our volunteers come from many backgrounds and religions; we accept everyone, regardless of faith. We all have a common goal to help those who are on the street to move from despair to hope. Since 2009, we have grown to now deliver various specialist services ourselves, alongside an expanded hot food service.
As we have so many volunteers, we are able to offer a ‘front line’ service at a minimal cost as well as providing opportunities for our volunteers to gain experience.
Our work supports the aims of the Leicester Homelessness Strategy (2012), which stressed that:
“A model needs to be developed to ensure homeless people can access opportunities to turn their lives around”
Our work also fits closely with the expressed aims of the Leicester Adult Social Care Commissioning Strategy (2015) to:
“Support people’s independence through ‘simple’ services rather than waiting until people hit a crisis point.”
Our overall long term strategic aim is to work with our partners to develop The Bridge Homelessness to Hope into a ‘hub’ centre where local agencies can deliver their services in an accessible, welcoming and non-judgemental environment.
why not learn more about our services https://www.bridgeleicester.org/