We work in creative and imaginative ways with people experiencing or at risk of homelessness, with the public and community partners to bring about lasting change in Bristol and beyond. We find gaps in Bristol’s provision for people experiencing homelessness and work together with our community to create innovative projects to fill them. Our annual Caring at Christmas project is the largest project of its kind in the south west, but our projects work hard every week of the year to solve the issues that cause homelessness in Bristol.
With the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, we began our Cheers Drive food delivery scheme which provided 160,000 healthy, delicious meals to 850 people in temporary accommodation and those who are sleeping rough. The success of this emergency response led to the Bristol Goods project, using a food club model to help prevent homelessness in the city, and support those recovering from it.
In addition our Project Z youth work practitioners support young people facing homelessness, and our Early Doors project worked in partnership with Housing Matters (formerly CHAS) works in various parts of the city to provide advice, support and information to tackle a wide range of issues that are contributing to the problem of homelessness for people in Bristol. This work is an area of expansion for the team which is growing to meet the need in the city.
Caring in Bristol continues to look for gaps in provision, and 2023/24 will see our new youth shelter being established. We know that young people are disproportionately affected by homelessness, so the creation of this shelter is a vital addition to resources in the city.
Our Caring at Christmas project is still an important project for us, and in 2022 featured “Bristol’s Big Christmas Dinner” to emphasise the importance of community during the festive period, and our aspiration to enable everyone to have a place at the table. It served 1440 meals over the Christmas period to our guests with the support of over 460 volunteers to make it happen.
