The shelter may have closed but we are still open!

This morning our winter night shelter closed its doors for the final time in 2025.

More than 30 guests stayed in the shelter during the three months it was open. Each received a warm welcome, a safe place to stay, hot food, fresh clothes, showers and support from our team.

"It was loving and caring. That’s the most important thing. People need to be seen as human and in the shelter we were… I don’t think I can thank you all enough" - Shelter guest

We are delighted that two out of three guests have moved on to accommodation. Only two guests were still in the shelter on the final night, one of whom has been offered accommodation and will hopefully be moving in very soon!

Our heartfelt thanks go to so many people, and we will be thanking you all soon, but today we must mention our seven host churches: Christ the Servant King, Wycombe Community Church, Oakridge Baptist Church, Church of the Good Shepherd, Union Baptist Church, Trinity United Reformed Church, Wesley Methodist Church.

And our shelter volunteers including those at the venues and behind the scenes making it happen. Hosts, cooks and assistant cooks, shift leaders, church links, venue coordinators, laundry, drivers, steering group members, those helping with training, fundraising, packing the van, sorting donations, working with guests and more.

They all made it happen.

Although shelter is now closed for the season, our work doesn’t stop because people face homelessness every single day.

We continue to work hard for our remaining shelter guests who don’t yet have a home and for every other person we meet who is in a housing crisis.

Our support centre and homelessness helpline are open year-round for people who need our help. Our drop in services for people who are street homeless will be open soon, providing meals, laundry facilities, showers and community for people who are rough sleeping.

Our homeless prevention work continues apace, stopping homelessness before it starts and preventing the harm and trauma that homelessness causes.

We will be sharing opportunities to be part of this ongoing mission through fundraising, volunteering and more in the coming days. Watch this space….

And in the meantime if you were involved in any way, whether you volunteered, prayed or gave, thank you for everything you have done to keep the shelter open and for being part of the community that saved lives this winter.