More than just life without a place to live

There are so many intersecting factors that impact Londoners with nowhere to call home. It's a complex picture that requires a comprehensive support structure. As we mark the annual World Homeless Day on October 10th, we take a look at the experiences of a homeless project in Lewisham that The London Community Foundation has been helping to fund.

999 Club's aim is to eradicate homelessness in Lewisham, an area of high deprivation. The organisation supports adults experiencing every type of homelessness - street homeless, rough sleeping, unhoused or escaping domestic abuse and those who have no recourse to public funds. 999 Club's vital services ensure people overcome the barriers preventing them from securing accommodation and moving forward with their lives, such as mental or physical ill-health, debt or insecure immigration status.

999 Club offer one-to-one and group sessions to help people:

• to secure and sustain appropriate accommodation
• address financial challenges
• find training and employment opportunities
• improve English language
• build skills and,
• develop confidence and resilience so that they can sustain tenancies and prevent recurring homelessness

The Gateway, located on Deptford Broadway, is the only drop-in day centre in Lewisham and the first point of contact for all of 999 Club's services. The Gateway provides a warm welcome, where people can meet their everyday needs, such as having a hot meal, taking a shower, having laundry done, accessing phones and computers and gaining respite from the streets. They offer an early morning breakfast club for street homeless and an out-of-hours service where people can find support during a mental health crisis. 999 Club also have a dedicated space for women who may prefer to access services in a female only environment.

It's a comprehensive service making great strides towards to meeting the varied and complex needs of those without a safe and secure permanent home.

The John Laing Charitable Trust Fund is managed by The London Community Foundation and is investing crucial funding to tackle homelessness in Deptford. This summer the fund awarded grants to two community organisations working in this area of Lewisham.

According to CHAIN (Combined Homeless and Information Network), there were over 4800 people sleeping rough between October and December 2025 - an increase of 5% on the same period in 2024 - and 106 people were seen sleeping rough in Lewisham between July and September.

But there are also large numbers who remain hidden - sleeping on the streets away from the main roads where street counts take place, sofa surfing or sleeping on public transport. Traditional housing and employment services are not equipped to provide enough support to those with complex needs and demands on the council mean that many are referred to 999 Club and their services.

The John Laing Charitable Trust Fund awarded £33,750 to help fund 999 Club's two Complex Intervention Worker posts for 3 years, providing wraparound and intensive support for people with complex needs including housing, trauma, mental ill-health. The staff members also work with other agencies, services and providers to ensure that the most appropriate support is available.

It's this consistent and long term intervention that ensures that there's hope for the members of 999 Club. The goal is more than just finding a house or the confidence to secure employment. Many of those referred to 999 Club need more support to move through their situation - to find a safe space to belong and experience restoration. For people like Mark, a home and a job are the final outcome but there's so much more involved before that:

It took a while to build trust with Mark, but through consistent, engagement Mark began to open up.

"When he first came to the 999 Club, Mark was rough sleeping in a park in Lewisham. Estranged from his family after being released from prison, he was battling suicidal thoughts and using alcohol to get through each day.

It took a while to build trust with Mark, but through consistent, engagement Mark began to open up. Following this, we secured Mark a place in supported housing. We also connected Mark with a Change Grow Live worker who regularly attends the 999 Club, to help address his alcohol use.

As Mark continued to make progress, we helped him start to look for permanent housing options, and after viewing five properties, Mark finally found a place he could call a home. The Move+ Project supported his moving in (including provision of a move-in pack, including bedding, pillows and kitchenware) and Mark began attending Move+ social events, which helped Mark form connections with others.

With stable housing secured and with Peer Support, Mark began setting long-term goals. He expressed a desire to work in construction, so we helped him enrol on a Construction Skills Certification Scheme course. With consistent guidance and encouragement from his Peer Coach, Mark passed the course and then found employment. To celebrate his achievement, Move+ provided him with everything needed to work onsite (i.e. safety work boots, overalls etc.).

Mark now feels hopeful about the future."

The London Community Foundation are very grateful to The John Laing Charitable Trust for their commitment to see local communities in Lewisham experience more of the hope that Mark has thanks to 999 Club and so many other community organisations just like them. If you or your company would like to know more about how you could start a fund to support those tackling local homelessness, please reach out to one of our philanthropy team.