 | 28 May 2012 Accessibility help Text only |
|
|
| BBC Homepage | | |
| |||
| Contact Us Like this page? Send it to a friend! | | |
Places featuresYou are in: Tyne > Places > Places features > Supporting the homeless  'The Garden Rooms' at Elliott House Supporting the homelessTyneside Cyrenians was named Charity of the Year at the 2008 Charity Times Awards. Trevor is one of thousands of people who have benefited from the organisation's work. It's easy to take many everyday things for granted - like having a place to call home. Most people reading this page can probably do so safe in the knowledge that tonight they will sleep with a roof over their head. But not everyone is so lucky and homelessness is still very much a problem in the UK. Tyneside CyreniansThere are, however, many organisations out there that exist to help people who do not have a home. Tyneside Cyrenians is one such organisation. Founded in 1970, it works to support vulnerable people in this region who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless.  Communal dining room at Elliott House Over the years, the charity's achievements have been recognised with a number of awards and nominations, including being named Charity of the Year at the 2008 Charity Times Awards. The organisation beat off stiff competition from international and national charities, including The Alzheimers Society, International HIV/AIDS Alliance and The Stroke Association, to secure the award. Tyneside Cyrenians operates 12 projects at permanent locations in Tyneside, including a drop-in day centre and direct access accommodation with 24-hour staffing at Elliott House hostel in the West End of Newcastle. The staff at Tyneside Cyrenians come from a variety of backgrounds, including an increasing number of ex service-users. People who have had first hand experience of needing and using services such as those provided by Tyneside Cyrenians. People like Trevor.  Trevor works at Elliott House Trading placesBy his own admission Trevor has lived a chaotic life. "I have a past. I'm an ex-service user myself," he says very openly. "I've lived a very chaotic life myself. I have experience with hostels and prisons and rehabilitation. I'm an ex-drug user." Trevor has been clean for several years and has been using his personal experience to help others as a sessional worker for Tyneside Cyrenians.
This new stage in his life began in 2006 when he got involved with a new voluntary initiative called Trading Places. "It was a service-user led organisation and it started back in June [2006] and it's just grown from strength to strength. "We traded places with the staff and it's just been a success. It was like a pilot scheme for 12 weeks and it's just come on... We even got nominated for community care award down in London." The scheme was such a success that it is still going, but Trevor himself has now moved on to work at the Elliott House hostel... Click on NEXT to read more or use the links on the right to find out more about other homeless charities.last updated: 24/09/2008 at 12:10 You are in: Tyne > Places > Places features > Supporting the homeless |
| | About the BBC | Help | Terms of Use | Privacy & Cookies Policy |
