Coventry Cyrenians

About Coventry Cyrenians

Our services

Coventry Supported Accommodation Service
Stratford Temporary Accommodation Service
Stratford Independent Accommodation Service
Stratford Family Accommodation Service
Warwick Supported Accommodation Service
Young Person's Alcohol Intervention Mediation Services

What we do

Established in 1973, we provide a comprehensive range of high quality services to homeless and vulnerably housed people in Coventry and Warwickshire. Our mission statement is to provide individualised support to promote and enhance the life chances of people who are homeless, or at risk of homelessness, and empower them to live as independently as possible. Our services currently include the Coventry Supported Accommodation Service, Stratford Upon Avon Temporary Accommodation for Single Adults and Young Person's Alcohol Intervention & Mediation Service. Our accommodation services provide nearly 200 units of accommodation, which are made up of properties situated across Coventry & Warwickshire. We provide more supported accommodation for single homeless adults than any other single agency in Coventry. The traditional view of homelessness has tended to focus on negative stereotypes. At Coventry Cyrenians we view our role as helping people to rebuild their lives.

We provide more supported accommodation for homeless people in Coventry than any other organisation
Over two thirds of the people we see are experiencing mental health challenges and more than one in five are sleeping rough when we accommodate them
Over 90% of people leaving our service report improvements in one or more areas of their life
About one in five of our residents obtain paid employment by the time they move on from us, many benefiting from our own employment and training opportunities
We generate 80% of our income from accommodation charges but rely on public support and donations to enable us to continue our work

We also run an exciting social enterprise store called 'Windsor's & Refreshed' - combining quality products and work experience opportunities. It is a cafe, boutique and emporium all in one place. Visit us at 98-101 Far Gosford Street, Coventry.

Our impact

The following statistics are highlights from our recent impact report for 2017/18 across all our services.

OCCUPIED NIGHTS

48,628 – total number of occupied nights

POSITIVE OUTCOMES

88% - those reporting one or more positive life improvements
67% - those reporting three or more positive life improvements
4.6 - average number of positive outcomes reported per person

KEY AREAS OF LIFE IMPROVEMENT REPORTED

64% - improvement in general well-being
60% - improved mental health
59.4% - improved money management
46.9% - improved physical health
24.6% - reduced or ceased drug misuse*
21.7% - reduced or ceased alcohol misuse*
18.9% - obtained paid employment
18.3% - accessed vocational/job related training

*these are percentages of the total number of people, not the number presenting with these challenges

CLIENT FEEDBACK

We offer all beneficiaries leaving the service an opportunity to complete an 'exit questionnaire' when they leave the service (anonymously if they wish). In answer to specific questions regarding service delivery, the findings were as follows:

100% - felt listened to
100% - felt confidentiality was respected
100% - would recommend the service for others
98% - felt the service met their needs
97% - felt the experience gave them confidence for the future
93% - felt the accommodation was clean and comfortable

Timeline

1973	A single volunteer is recruited to run a nightshelter providing accommodation to ten single homeless men each night in Coventry. The first paid worker starts 3 years later.
1984	Our night shelter eventually closes when our new Emergency Accommodation Service is established which later becomes recognised nationally as a model of good practice.
1988	In response to indentified needs, dedicated services and specialist accommodation for women and women with children.
1989	Services targeting young people are established in Coventry in response to a growing level of homelessness among under 25’s.
1994	NHS funding is secured to employ our first qualified Mental Health Nurse.
1998	We receive the largest ever National Lottery social grant in the W. Midlands allowing us to establish the first ever Floating Support service in Coventry which dramatically reduced the incidence of people losing their homes.
2002	In partnership with Whitefriars Housing Group we establish a supported, furnished lettings scheme for young people, the first of its kind in Coventry.
2005	At the request of Coventry City Council we develop a new project providing dedicated 24 hour emergency accommodation for young people. The service quickly exceeds successful outcomes levels of national award winning schemes in the Midlands.
2009	The first dedicated Rough Sleepers Service in Coventry is established. By 2010, benchmarking shows it to be one of the most successful in the country.
2010	Following successful tenders to Warwickshire County Council we open two new projects in Nuneaton and Stratford-on-Avon.
2012	Forces RE-GROUP is opened as a pilot service to offer specialist support to ex-servicemen who have become homeless after leaving the military.
2012	Social enterprises, Windsor’s & Refreshed are opened providing unique work experience and training opportunities in catering and retail for homeless young people. Partners include Trading Standards and Coventry University.
2013	Funding from Comic Relief (and later the National Lottery) sees a new Alcohol Intervention & Mediation Service which works with young people at risk of having to leave home and who have alcohol and emotional/mental health issues.
2016	As part of a Coventry & Warwickshire consortium we secure £3m to provide training and work experience opportunities to homeless people and local, long-term unemployed.
2018	Warwick District Council invites us to establish a project to support people off the streets and into housing. We open properties in Warwick, Kenilworth and Leamington.
2018	An innovative new scheme with Stratford Council sees the opening of the first property acquired and refurbished as part of an ‘empty homes strategy’.
2019	We open our 200^th unit of accommodation in the area.