Our blog is a safe space where we discuss the things that really matter to us: young people, housing, government policy, our campaigns and our research.
It's where we ask the difficult questions, demystify the jargon, discuss the topics that affect young people most and give you a glimpse of our day-to-day as a youth homelessness charity.
Centrepoint’s goal is to help vulnerable young people become independent enough to live a good life that they can thrive in. And we are open to all homeless young people, regardless of their geographical circumstances. Whether they’ve been kicked out of their family home in London or have travelled to the UK as an unaccompanied minor, we’re here to help.
Our legal team recently experienced a bittersweet victory: through years of hard work they managed to reclaim a huge backlog of benefits payments owed to a young person using Centrepoint’s services. A huge and monumental success, yes -but it certainly wasn’t an easy win.
Our legal team make up a vital part of the service we offer young people at Centrepoint. For those seeking legal support, it can be incredibly difficult to attain without financial aid, and so many often go without. Centrepoint is here to help change that. Nabila, a legal administrator coming to the end of a secondment with the Legal Team, tells us about what she has learnt during her time with the department and the important service they provide.
Sunday 10 October 2021 marks the 11th World Homeless Day, originally established to recognise those working to end homelessness across the world. Since its inception in 2010, the day has represented the need to raise awareness of homelessness, support those who experience it, and fight for their futures.
Financial benefits, housing support and access to government employment programmes are all key to helping homeless people gain their independence. However, for the homeless, benefits – and the process of claiming them – can sometimes seem confusing. That’s why we’re here to help with our handy guide to your entitlement.
For so many young people who come through our doors, Centrepoint's Bursary provides a crucial lifeline for continuing their education and starting a career - both of which are key steps to independence. But did you know that we actually have three different kinds of Bursary, and that it's actually one of the last steps in helping young people to move on from homelessness? Find out more about our life-changing Bursaries here.
In July 2020, we put together a mission statement of how we planned to support Black, Asian and ethnic minority (BAME) staff within Centrepoint. We promised to hold ourselves accountable, to look at our processes, and to speak to those at the heart of the matter: our staff. A lot of our work on being anti-racist begins on the inside, at the core. And so, we wanted to share an update on our progress with you, our supporters, to let you know we’re still striving towards our mission. Here’s what we’ve been up to.
Senior Case Studies Officer, Tamsin Clements, talks to the Centrepoint Works team to explore how our in-house learning and employment offer can support young people who may have fallen through the cracks in the education system.
Men’s Health Week aims to improve the lives of men and boys, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds. This year, as we emerge from the biggest health crisis of the 21st century, the question is: where do we go from here?
Centrepoint’s new report, A Year Like No Other, has reflected on the impact of the last year on vulnerable young people, looking at youth unemployment, homelessness, poverty and mental health, and assessing the impact of the government’s policy interventions during the pandemic. Here, Deputy Service Manager Emily Cretch talks us through the research, and reflects on how the past year has been for her and her team.
Centrepoint has been building a new, psychologically-informed, working environment with staff wellbeing at its heart. Here, Senior Digital and Communications Officer Keir Forde, explains why and how we’re promoting staff wellbeing, and where we’ve got to in our first 12 months.
For LGBT History Month, we spoke to two former staff members about what it was like to work in Centrepoint’s Soho night shelter at the height of the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s.
