Beam wins Prestigious London Homelessness Award 2018 and £30,000

The 2018 award winners

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First Prize: £30,000

Beam: An innovative online service that uses crowdfunding to help homeless people to raise money for training courses and professional qualifications – then supports each individual through training and into work. Clients (known as “members”) are recommended to Beam by respected homelessness charities including Centrepoint, St Mungo’s and Thames Reach. Beam builds an asset-based, personalised career plan with the member and crowdfunds not only training costs, but any financial barriers to career progression, including childcare. Beam purchases items on behalf of members and further provides work experience and job roles through its employer network.

Prize Winner: £20,000

Safer London: Safer London launched the Pan-London Housing Reciprocal (PLHR) in January 2017, a new and innovative way to prevent homelessness that does not exist in any other city or country worldwide. Their research found that survivors of domestic abuse in London often experience long periods of housing instability, moving between refuges, hostels, temporary accommodation and short term private tenancies. Insecure housing can be a re-traumatising experience that can put survivors at further risk. For those with a social tenancy, the prospect of losing this security can be an additional barrier to fleeing abuse.

Prize Winner: £10,000

SLAM, Thamesreach and Lambeth Psychology in Hostels: This partnership between South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, Thames Reach and the London Borough of Lambeth is a national leader in delivering ‘Psychologically Informed Environments’ (PIE) to address the health inequalities found in homelessness. Over the past 6 years the Psychology in Hostels project has developed the UK’s most advanced PIE, wrapping three hostel sites in a ‘psychological envelope’ where everything that happens is informed by a psychological understanding of the service user’s needs.

Other Highly Commended Projects

Brent Single Homeless Prevention Service: The first homeless prevention service for single people in the UK to be delivered on a ‘payment by results’ basis, supporting the Local Authority to achieve their obligations under the Homelessness Reduction Act.

Cambridge House Safer Renting: Eviction from private rented housing is the primary driver of rising homelessness in London. Safer Renting works with people in bottom-end private rented housing (‘slum’ rentals), providing advice and advocacy to prevent homelessness. Their clients typically have little or no knowledge of their housing rights and are not connected to mainstream networks of advice. 

Croydon’s Gateway: Preventing households from experiencing crisis and having to rely on statutory services. Focussing on early intervention and prevention it assists residents that are homeless, at risk of homelessness or struggling financially