Haringey and Enfield Homeless Respite

Holy Innocents is working with All People All Places who help people to break the cycle of homelessness

Screenshot 2019-10-13 08.43.31Haringey and Enfield Homeless Respite helps people who are homeless as part of the all year round support service run by local charity All People All Places.  The ultimate aim is to move people from homelessness to sustainable lives and accommodation.

Holy Innocents, along with 17 other churches and a synagogue, work with All People All Places to provide seasonal respite. The aim of this  is to provide a period of stability, a roof over people’s heads, a warm bed and good food. This is whilst the charity provides a personalised service to help people move to sustainable lifestyles and accommodation.

Holy Innocents provides evening meal, bed and breakfast for one night of the week usually during December to March each year. People are referred into All People All Places who conduct a risk analysis and screen guests before they are accepted and welcomed into our church. During 2017-8, All People All Places helped 48 people and 35 of those had a positive move-on (73%). Holy Innocents played a part in providing respite for 28 of those. You can read more about what we do in the press:

A community outreach project

Holy Innocents is proud to be part of this homeless respite that focuses ultimately on alleviating the problem. We can only offer this respite because of the generous help and energy of so many people within and without our community. There are lots of church volunteers and volunteers from the local community who help each week with the running of the respite.

Teachers and parents from our local schools have also taken part in the project and have helped cook evening meals and breakfasts. Local schools have enjoyed bringing classes along to Holy Innocents during the daytime before we open our doors to the guests, to learn about issues around homelessness and what happens at our overnight respite. School children have also taken part in setting up beds and tables in preparation (though only over 18’s can volunteer with guests in the evenings).

Local business and residents have also been very generous in supporting the project financially. Moors Bar on Park Road have been hugely supportive in raising lots of money for the shelter with special fundraising concerts and film nights. Dunn’s Bakery on Crouch End Broadway, support Holy Innocents by giving delicious food to us every week, as well as sponsoring APAP directly.  We are very grateful to all who have helped in so many ways to help with this excellent work of providing respite to those who might otherwise have nowhere to sleep.

How can you help?

We are always looking for volunteers, if you are interested in helping at our night of respite during the three shifts – evening, overnight or morning, then please get in touch.  If you are unable to help physically, financial support is much appreciated. Donations of toiletries for the guests are also most welcome but we regret that we cannot accept donations of clothing or bedding at this time. You can contact the respite team at Holy Innocents here: Holy Innocents Contact Form

If you want to know more about the work of the charity All People All Places, please email info@allpeopleallplaces.org