Last Saturday night, 140 Oundle School pupils and staff headed to Birmingham to experience a night under cardboard in a car park at St Basils, one of the largest and most successful agencies in the United Kingdom working with young homeless people.
For one night, pupils had a taste of the reality experienced by the thousands of people in this country, who sleep rough night after night. It is hoped that as well as raising awareness of the plight of homeless people, the SleepOut will raise in excess of £2000 for this very worthy charity. Various talks on the work of St Basils were given throughout the evening by organisers and residents.
Nick Turnbull, Head of Community Action at Oundle School commented “We hope that our pupils will gain a deep understanding of homeless issues as a result of this exercise and that they will be inspired by the work of St Basils, which relies heavily on fundraising to support its programme. £2000 is the amount typically needed to support two young people from the moment they contact St Basils to the moment they leave. St Basils provides this bespoke event for our Field Community Action programme which this year also included talks from Peterborough Soup Kitchen, a former Big Issue seller and Ark (Pit Stop) in Oundle.”
The story of St Basils began on October 1st, 1972 when the doors of the hall at the disused Anglican Church in Heath Mill Lane, Deritend, Birmingham, were opened and the first night shelter specifically for young men opened for business.
It was the brainchild of Rev. Les Milner, an Anglican priest who was to dedicate the next 28 years of his life to working with young homeless men and women. It was a decision that was to affect the lives of hundreds of thousands of young people in and around Birmingham.
That first night shelter became known as ‘The Boot’ (probably because the young men had been ‘booted’ out of their previous homes) and became the foundation on which the rest of the organisation was built.
Oundle School’s connection with St Basils dates back to the opening of the The Boot. The then Head of Community Service and English teacher at Oundle School, Jeremy Firth, approached Les Milner offering the help of a group of pupils from Oundle School with the renovation of St Basils, then a derelict church in Deritend. This forged a link between St Basils and Oundle School which was formalised in 1995 when pupils first attended the annual St Basils SleepOut. Pupils and staff have participated in the SleepOuts ever since.
Fundraising Organiser at St Basils, Steve Rainbow commented, "Oundle School has been involved with the St Basils SleepOut for many years and has helped develop it into the event it is today. This latest branch of SleepOut has been tailor made to suit the requirements of the School in fulfilling its community work programme and it is something that could be rolled out to other large schools who wish to raise awareness of homelessness to their pupils. Oundle hope to raise over £2000 from this venture and in doing so continue the support they have given St Basils in their fight against youth homelessness. "
After “The Boot”, St Basils soon realised the needs of young women and Yardley House was opened to serve that group of society and it was followed by more projects to bring young people off the streets and into safety.
Les realised that this, though good, was not enough. The standards of accommodation had to be raised and the ambitions of the residents met.
The next breakthrough came in 1984 when “The Boot” was closed. By then it was realised that the dormitory accommodation was no way to help a young person back into independence. The replacement project “The New Boot” had separate bedrooms for everyone, a door that they could close behind them and a place, though temporary, that they could call their own. It was the start of the change that now sees every person having a room of their own and some space in which to develop.
Today St Basils is the largest regional organisation in the UK working with young people who are homeless or in danger of homelessness. Every year St Basils sees 4,500 16-25 year olds, accommodates around 1,000 and helps large numbers with advice, education and support.
In 2000 Rev Les Milner retired and, unfortunately, passed away two years later.
The new Chief Executive, Jean Templeton, came with a housing background and a zeal for growing on the foundations that Les had laid. The new St Basils continues to see young people as its absolute priority and has grown into a ground-breaking innovative organisation that works with partners across Local Government, Industry and Commerce, Housing Associations and many others.
St Basils is the national Registered Social Landlord 'RSL' Centre of Excellence in the prevention of youth homelessness and one of the largest agencies in the United Kingdom working with young people who may be at risk of homelessness or actually homeless. For further information visit http://www.stbasils.org.uk
Background information on St Basils
Services offered include a wide range of support for young people both living in St Basils accommodation and for those who are not. The aim is to prevent any young person from becoming homeless in the first place and to make sure that those who do come to St Basils can gain the skills needed to sustain their own tenancies. It provides family mediation, housing advice, training and education opportunities. Working in schools and youth settings enables young people to be reached before they get to a crisis point. Key areas covered are:
• Preventing Youth Homelessness Preventing youth homelessness and early intervention
• Learning Skills and Work
• Schools Training and Mentoring Project STaMP STAMP provides homeless awareness sessions delivered by trained young peer educators who have experienced homelessness.
• Resettlement and Floating Support Services for young people who are planning to move on and further support for those who have.
The head office is based in Birmingham and the charity also provides accommodation and services in Redditch and Solihull Boroughs. In addition St Basils is also working with other local authorities in the West Midlands region.
St Basils, Heath Mill Lane, Deritend, Birmingham B9 4AX .Tel 0121-772-2483.
Two main levels of accommodation are offered which cater for up to 340 young people:
Emergency accommodation, sometimes called 'direct access', is for young people who are in immediate need of accommodation or who are are facing homelessness within the next month.
Supported accommodation comes with various levels of support. From 24 hour staff on site, to occasional cover and home visits including a number of independent and semi independent self contained flats and bedsits. A young person will be able to experience a level of independence with the option of accessing services and support as they see fit