A £5 million transformation of a homeless hostel in Hackney is helping to break the cycle of homeless and social exclusion by reinvigorating residents and opening up new opportunities within the community.
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A £5 million transformation of a homeless hostel in Hackney is helping to break the cycle of homeless and social exclusion by reinvigorating residents and opening up new opportunities within the community.
St Mungo's Mare Street hostel has beds for 60 residents aged from 17 to 65. Previously a dormitory-style hostel for 150 people with communal bathrooms, the hostel now has 45 en-suite rooms, arranged into groups of six with a shared kitchen between them. There are also 15 self-contained flats.
Beds in the rooms were made by other St Mungo's clients in the organisation's wood workshop. In addition, the building is now much more energy and water-saving efficient.
There are communal areas including a main kitchen, an internet area, training rooms, an art room, a meeting room and a library - some of which are already being used by other Hackney organisations.
In addition, a sound recording studio will soon be up and running where St Mungo's staff plan to work with local Hackney musicians to develop residents' music skills.
The former police section house was refurbished through a successful funding bid from St Mungo's and the Borough of Hackney to Communities and Local Government through their Hostels Capital Improvement Programme (HCIP), the second phase of which - The Places of Change Programme - has since transferred to the Homes and Communities Agency.
Residents also have access to the Greenhouse Health Centre - a St Mungo's, Thames Reach and Hackney Primary Care Trust partnership for access to doctors and specialist health workers; and to a Complex Needs Worker to assist with any issues around mental health or substance use, and a Resettlement Worker to assist residents moving on into permanent accommodation.