How the Night Shelter Works

1. The Venue: Every night of the week, we create a space that is a safe haven.

2. The Welcome: Guests aren’t just processed; they are welcomed. They get a hot dinner, a shower, and a clean bed.

3. The Support: While our guests sleep safely, KCAH caseworkers work tirelessly in the background. We use this stable period to secure ID, benefits, medical help, and work towards long-term accommodation.

4. The Exit: The goal isn’t to stay in the shelter; it’s to leave it for good. We support every guest until they unlock their own front door.

It’s official! This year’s Winter Night Shelter is on. 

With funding from RBK, the UK government and the Julia Rausing Trust we are delighted to be able to offer a warm welcome, a hot meal, a bed and a breakfast for 26 people every night for 4 months.

This years location is Peter Holmes House, literally next door to our offices, as provided by Rev. Hugo Foxwood and the good people of St Peter’s Church, Norbiton, offering a large communal area, showers, a kitchen, laundry facilities and several shared bedrooms with mattress beds.

While last winter’s provision held it’s own set of challenges, we are proud to have been audited and recognised by Housing Justice as recipients of their Quality Mark meaning that we demonstrate a commitment to continuous learning and service development, and look forward to continuing our work and maintain that recognition.

We are in the rapid process of planning and preparing the space for the arrival of our first guests on the 1st of December this year, with a huge increase in volunteer engagement and many registrations already accepted.

For those who wish to be part of the volunteering community the best steps are to complete our volunteer registration form here and then sign-up to one of our forthcoming training sessions:

18th November = KCAH Winter Night Shelter Training Session

25th November = KCAH Winter Night Shelter Training Session – Online

2nd December  = KCAH Winter Night Shelter Training Session

All volunteers, new and returning, are required to complete this training before gaining access (via their KCAH volunteer dashboard) to the whatsapp groups and our partner shift booking system 3rings.

We are able to make referrals directly from the Housing Crisis Intervention Service, but this is not the only route. While we work on our external referral system (updates to follow, please bookmark this page), if you know of someone who is or is at risk of sleeping rough, please advise them to visit our drop-in service which is currently open Mon/Tues/Thurs/Fri 10am – 12:30pm and we will register them on our system, make the referral to the shelter and start to work on their case to ensure they have the correct ID, access to funds and a longer term accommodation solution.