We need to share some important news with you at Streetlife as a result of funding changes. In February 2023, we were able to increase our hours at The Base (our day centre) to 7 days per week. Alongside this, we extended our opening hours so that we could provide more support for local young people who desperately needed our help and services.
We were able to offer these extended hours and days due to funding from the Warm Hub and the cost of living crisis grants. Unfortunately, these grants have now expired, and since early 2024, we have been supplementing these costs from our core funds.
Being a local charity, this has been challenging, and it’s come to our attention that it’s not sustainable without the help of grants and other funding. We rely on the help of the local community to keep our services going to such a high standard.
What’s changing at Streetlife?
We want to continue offering our services to those who need them the most. As a result, we have decided to trial a reduction in our opening hours at The Base. Please be assured that this decision has not been taken lightly and has required a lot of deliberation.
From the 1st of July, the opening hours at The Base will be Monday to Friday, 12:30 pm until 3:30 pm.
These new opening hours remain to be an increase in our support when compared to our services and hours before 2023. This decision has been made because we understand that our services are more in demand than ever. We recognise the importance of ensuring that we can always provide a quality level of support in a safe, welcoming and well-staffed environment. The changes to our hours of operation will ensure that this is achieved.
Young people are our priority
As always, our young people are our priority. We understand how much our young people rely on our services. Unfortunately, being a small charity and the only emergency shelter within a 56-mile radius means that we need to take steps to ensure the sustainability of our services in the long term.
Thank you to our Staff and Volunteers
All of our incredible services wouldn’t be possible without the amazing support of our staff and volunteers. We want to say a huge thank you to all of our staff members and volunteers for going the extra mile over the last 18 months. We appreciate your support and your continued passion going forward.
Streetlife’s well-being programme
In addition to our services in The Base and The Night Shelter, we also provide our fantastic well-being programme. Our well-being programme will continue to run over the 5 days that The Base is open. It helps young people to learn resilience and strength and teaches them ways to overcome issues to have a happier life.
At Streetlife, we are lucky enough to have our own experienced, on-site well-being practitioner who offers one-to-one appointments throughout the week. Here’s what’s included in our well-being programme.
- Monday – Connecting with people
- Tuesday – Learning mindfulness
- Wednesday – The importance of keeping active
- Thursday – Building on your own skills
- Friday – Giving to others
Our well-being programme focuses on various elements to help you improve your well-being. These programmes offer young people the chance to join in group sessions and partake in team-building activities. These can be attended alongside individual sessions with our well-being practitioner.
We really appreciate your continued support for our services at The Base and The Night Shelter. Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any questions. These changes to The Base will come into effect on Monday the 1st of July 2024.
Please be aware that there will be no changes to our opening hours at The Night Shelter, which continues to be open 24/7, 365 days a year.