2024 has been quite a year for WSUP, with important developments in our work to support people in the community experiencing homelessness, poverty, addiction and other life challenges. We’ve increased the services we offer, made improvements to our drop-in centre and celebrated some amazing achievements. Here are the highlights.
January
Funding from the National Lottery Community Fund meant we could extend our opening hours, buy a brand-new hob, build storage space above our office, buy an outdoor storage container to give us more room for our clothing bank, and put on wellbeing activities for our guests.
We were invited to the Nepalese Embassy and had the pleasure of meeting actress Joanna Lumley at the launch of Sujan Katuwal’s 3,000 mile walking challenge. Sujan from Panas Restaurant, who have been supporting WSUP for the past four years, aimed to raise £250,000 in sponsorship and WSUP was one of his chosen charities.
March
We received a Community Award at the Royal Borough of Greenwich Civic Awards in recognition of our outstanding contribution to the social, economic and physical wellbeing of the borough.
We won a Women in Management Community Initiative Award for empowering women to overcome personal challenges and pursue new opportunities. The award was presented to WSUP volunteer Ruth at the House of Lords.
Democracy Drive launched, a collaboration with Woolwich Centre Library to increase low voter turnout in the borough of Greenwich. The project supported WSUP guests to register to vote and apply for a Voter Authority Certificate, and included art therapy workshops with local artist Lucia Colella so our guests could explore the theme of democracy creatively.
April
We extended our opening times to include Mondays as well as Tuesdays and Saturday, giving people access to our essential services – hot meals, showers, haircuts, a laundry services and a clothing bank – more often.
May
Work by WSUP guests was showcased in an exhibition at Woolwich Works. The work was created in art therapy workshops with local artists Lucia Colella and Stacey Lockelder.
June
Emmaus Greenwich launched their Solidarity Point at WSUP on Monday afternoons providing hot meals, device charging and an opportunity for people to find out more about their services in the community.
July
We launched the first of a series of courses, funded by Greenwich Mental Health Hub to help people reduce their anxiety and boost their self-esteem. “I really enjoyed learning all the techniques that there are for controlling my anxiety” said Kat, a WSUP volunteer
We partnered with Kings College Hospital to run a monthly clinic for our guests, for liver screening and to test for hepatitis C. Katherine Dickson, Hepatology Testing and Treatment Coordinator at Kings Liver Department said: “We’ve seen over 70 people in our monthly clinic at WSUP. At least 15 of those people have tested positive for a fibrous scan which means their livers are scarred. Depending on the state of cirrhosis of the liver there are different treatment avenues to go down. If someone tests positive for hepatitis C we treat them with tablets that are 100% effective and will completely cure the virus in eight to 12 weeks.” Did you know that around 70,000 people in England don’t know they have hepatitis C?
September
We became an accredited Living Wage Employer. The real Living Wage is the only UK wage rate based on the cost of living.
A grant from Groundwork London’s Greenwich Healthier Communities Fund meant we were able to adapt our consultation room into a medical room to provide accessible healthcare to those who may not have easy access to medical facilities. The grant also paid for training for WSUP staff and volunteers on subjects like safeguarding adults, and equality and diversity.
The Generative Business Grant we received from Royal Borough of Greenwich will go towards digital inclusion for our guests, including direct support to access digital services such as DVLA, passport renewal or other citizenship-related activities. We will also create visual aids about our services for people speaking English as their second language.
We partnered with GCDA who brought laptops to WSUP to sign our guests up for Learn My Way so they could gain digital skills to make the most of the online world.
October
Our Big Sleep Out event at Woolwich Works raised over £7,000 and was attended by 70 people including Woolwich Mayor Cllr Jit Ranabhat. We walked over hot coals and spent the night sleeping on the floor. Cllr Asli Mohammad said: “WSUP’s Big Sleep Out opened my eyes to the harshness of sleeping without the comfort of a home. WSUP does incredible work supporting those who have nowhere else to turn. What I experienced last night cannot compare to what many go through every day, but it helped me understand just how critical these services are. The Big Sleep Out isn’t just about raising funds; it’s about raising awareness, empathy, and solidarity. It reminds us of the importance of compassion and community support.”
Local theatre company Punchdrunk hosted an exhibition of art by WSUP guests. The work was created in art therapy workshops with artist Stacey Lockelder exploring ‘a journey through trauma’. “I was so proud of what I was able to produce in the classes, I have found a new love for art, something I never enjoyed at school.” Annette, WSUP guest
South East London Chamber of Commerce members voted for us to be their charity to support for the next two years.
November
Thanks to a grant from Asda Foundation, the window frames at our drop-in centre were repaired and we upgraded our emergency lighting, helping to make our community hub a warm and safe place.
December
We couldn’t be happier to have been selected as finalists for the Best of Royal Greenwich Business Awards 2024 in the Health and Wellbeing category. The winners will be announced in February 2025.
We celebrated our tenth birthday in style with a fundraising concert at St Peters Church with some fantastic local performers. We raised over £1,000.
We joined Homeless Link, the national membership charity for frontline homelessness services. We’re looking forward to Homeless Link’s training courses design to help us provide impactful services to people experiencing homelessness, attend networking events to share knowledge and hear about best practice, and collectively work towards a future of ending homelessness.