Building work has started for Caritas Anchor House’s new 15 room accommodation project called Hope Street. Caritas Anchor House provides a home and support for people experiencing homelessness in Newham. Hope Street is currently being built at a large unused space at its main Barking Road site. It has been designed for those that have been sleeping rough. Many of them will be moving on from hotels and emergency accommodation where they have been housed and supported during the pandemic. It is hoped that the new accommodation will be opening its doors to residents in February 2022.

London currently faces the most severe homelessness crisis in the country. According to a report released last week by Shelter, 1 in 53 people are experiencing homelessness in the capital. In Newham levels of homelessness are almost twice as severe as the rest of London, with a staggering 1 in 23 people experiencing homelessness. With Covid protections such as the Eviction Ban, Furlough Scheme and the Everyone In scheme being taken away, even more people are expected to lose their jobs and homes.

In response to this homelessness crisis, Caritas Anchor House works with its residents so that they can fulfil their employment ambitions and sustain a long term tenancy once they move out. Hope Street will have 15 purpose-built rooms with ensuite facilities. Each room will have its own unique individual design to avoid any feeling of institutionalisation and to give residents a real sense of home. Rooms will share the existing and newly refurbished communal facilities with the core hostel including shared kitchen, launderette, lounge and IT suite.

Below is a short story from one of our ex- residents who details how Caritas Anchor helped him to move into his own home.

Mensur – Resident of Caritas Anchor House
“The main things that I feel stand out to me since moving into Caritas Anchor House are having a safe place to sleep, getting education, getting a job, and getting my confidence and independence back. Recently, I’ve been told that I will be able to move into my own social housing flat in the area. I couldn’t be happier. It’s one of the last steps of my journey to get my life back on track.”

Amanda Dubarry – Chief Executive, Caritas Anchor House
“ We are thrilled to have started the building work for this new accommodation– Hope Street. We really see this as an innovative build, making use of a large unused space at our main building here in Canning Town. We’ve really made an effort to ensure each room has its own individual design so that it feels like a mini home for residents who would have been sleeping rough on the streets alone. We know that the challenge is not just to provide somewhere safe for them, but also to ensure they are ready for independent living, once they leave here and we will be providing support and development opportunities for all of the residents of this new service as we do with residents across our provision.”