QHA - What We Do

QHA is a Company Limited by Guarantee, no. 2978545 and a Registered Charity, no. 1041921.
Registered address: Sunny Brae, Allendale Road, Hexham, Northumberland, NE46 2NQ

The Quaker Homeless Action Council is made up of 12 volunteer Trustees. Business is conducted using the Quaker business method, with a clerk, assistant clerk and treasurer being nominated to roles. QHA also employs a part-time Director.

We are currently adding to this site. Please visit us again for more information on all of QHA's projects.



Quaker Christmas Shelter
Quaker Mobile Library
Befriending Teams Pilot Project
Research


Quaker Christmas Shelter 2010 Quaker Christmas Shelter will be held at Union Chapel, in Islington, London, from 23rd to 30th December 2010. We will have 25 beds each night, with 5 'reserved' for women, if needed. Clients can be referred or self-refer. Referral Agencies should provide the person's NI Number and Chain Number, if available, along with the first and last name. Clients must check in by 8:30pm to claim their bed for the night. Quaker Christmas Shelter will also offer Breakfast to 'all comers', whether homeless or otherwise disenfranchised, from 8:am to 10:am each day from 24th to 30th December. A packed lunch will be available to take away, as well. In the evening during the Quaker Christmas Shelter, we will offer a 'home cooked' dinner for up to 75 'all comers' per night. We will also have some Christmas themed entertainment and some services (e.g. a doctor and/or nurse on site, a hairdresser, an optometrist, etc.). Perhaps most important, we will also have the Pilion Trust on site to provide professional drug/alcohol/mental health counselling and outreach work. In 2008, four rough sleepers entered Detox through the direct intervention of the Quaker Christmas Shelter and in 2009 we had two similar success stories. In 2010, we will continue to work with the Pilion Trust and other agencies to continue to try to give people opportunities to tackle their drug and alcohol dependencies. In 2008 and 2009, we also helped each guest have a 'move on' plan from our shelter, such as to another shelter, to a hostel, or returning to their home. We hope to be equally effective in 2010. The Referrals Telephone Line will open on 22nd December 2010. Call 07833-123155 to make a Referral. To download our Referrals Information, click here. We rely on more than 75 volunteers each year to make the Quaker Christmas shelter a success. If you would like to volunteer at the Quaker Christmas Shelter 2010, please find all the information about how to get involved on our Getting Involved page. Please also note that we will be holding our main Training Day on Saturday, 11th December 2010 at Union Chapel. Those who took part in the Training Day in 2007, 2008, or 2009 do not have to attend this year's training, but are most welcome to do so.



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The Quaker Mobile Library is an innovative library service in London that provides books to borrow for people who would otherwise be unable to take books out of the library, due to having 'no fixed abode'. More than 30 volunteers staff the van, known as 'The Pheonix'. They make up to 5 runs each week to shelters, hostels, and soup run locations around London. The variety of books sought and borrowed by the library users is excellent. The Quaker Mobile Library has a large collection of foreign language books as well as novels, mysteries, and non-fiction. Perhaps more important, the reader and volunteer connection forged over conversations about books give fresh purpose and dignity to both. In May 2009, the Quaker Mobile Library won the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals' top prize at the Mobile Meet. The award, 'The Shropshire Leisure Services Concours Winner', is given annually for the Most Innovative Mobile Library. We are thrilled to have received this recognition.

The Quaker Mobile Library also celebrated its 10th Anniversary of Service in October 2009. The Quaker Mobile Library is always looking for more volunteers, especially drivers. If you would like to volunteer, please get more information from our Getting Involved page.
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The Befriending Teams Pilot Project has been launched in Poole, Dorset On 1st February 2009, the Mayor of Poole, Councillor Joyce Lavender, helped launch Quaker Homeless Action's new Befriending Teams Pilot Project. The Befriending Teams will help the recently housed homeless population re-integrate into society. Quaker Homeless Action is running the pilot project in partnership with a Poole-based charity called Routes to Roots, which is formed of members of Poole's wider church community. In practice, the partnership means that Routes to Roots are providing the outreach to the homeless population and help with the management of the project. Quaker Homeless Action is providing all the funding as well as management of the project. The Befriending Teams are a service for the homeless who are moving into accommodation. The aims are to help the homeless develop a sense of home and belonging and to prevent the 'recycling' of homelessness (i.e. multiple short term tenancies) by addressing isolation and loneliness. The pilot project will consist of six teams, comprised of three volunteer befrienders and one formerly homeless participant. The befrienders will be required to meet with the participants in pairs (ie 'no lone working'). They will also generally meet in public spaces. The Befriending Teams Pilot Project will run for 24 months, finishing at the end of January 2011. Routes to Roots hopes to be able to sustain the project after that date with local funding. Quaker Homeless Action hopes to be able to present their findings and their model to other groups interested in creating such a scheme. Quaker Homeless Action Befriending Teams Pilot Project supports the Religious Society of Friends in Britain Framework for Action 2009 - 2014 in the areas of Strengthening Local Communities, Crime Commmunity and Justice, and Using Our Resources Well.


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Research - Friends Around The Country In 2006 we undertook a national survey to find out more about how Friends see Quaker Homeless Action. We asked what they think we do, and what they think we should do. There were a broad range of responses, but in the main Friends felt that we should focus our activities on working directly with the homeless, and in particular rough sleepers. If you would like to know more about the results of this survey you can download the report here. We also asked Friends around the country to tell us of any Homeless initiatives in their area with which they are involved. We have received detailed information on three projects, and we hope that this may serve to inspire other Friends to take action in their own areas. For more information please download the following case studies. Caerleon Dorchester and Weymouth Preston
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