With the backdrop of a housing and homelessness crisis, St Mungo’s has launched its new six-year strategy. It sets out the charity’s goals to 2030, with forging successful partnerships to address and end homelessness as key.
There has been a 27% increase in the number of people rough sleeping, with almost 4,000 people sleeping on the streets across England every night. Meanwhile, close to 80,000 households are now homeless or at risk of it. The organisation will use the new strategy as a north star to equip itself to make the greatest difference, focusing on two clear missions:
- to directly support clients to find paths away from homelessness, for good.
- to use our clients’ voices and our operational expertise to influence policy and system change.
The organisation’s previous strategy was written in 2021, achieving success across service delivery initiatives and adapting to the aftermath of the pandemic and rising challenges of the cost-of-living crisis. Each year the charity helps nearly 30,000 people facing homelessness.
With a commitment to being an innovative, collaborative and expert charity, a new strategy was jointly developed through consultation across St Mungo’s with over 1,000 colleagues and 800 clients, to articulate an approach that is resilient in a world that has changed significantly over recent years.
The 55-year-old charity has also revealed a refreshed visual identity this week, which will help to position the charity as a leading voice to influence necessary change in the years ahead.
Emma Haddad, Chief Executive of St Mungo’s, said: “I am really pleased to build on the excellent work delivered by colleagues across St Mungo’s over the years by taking us into a new phase with a strategy that sets the direction for the next six years.
Homelessness is getting worse. We see it in the official numbers with close to 4,000 people sleeping rough across England every night, and almost 80,000 households homeless or at risk of it. And we see it every day in our services: our outreach teams struggling to respond to the increasing number of people on the streets; our hostels at capacity; the lack of affordable and appropriate housing.
The trauma of homelessness damages too many lives. We enter 2024 with a renewed commitment to help end homelessness and rebuild lives. We will continue to support people away from homelessness, for good. And we will continue to elevate our clients’ voices and use our operational expertise to push for the system change that is needed. To do the best for our clients means putting the wellbeing and support of our dedicated teams central to any strategy. I have the upmost respect for our teams across St Mungo’s, who face challenges daily in finding people a permanent solution away from homelessness – a key future focus is to ensure St Mungo’s is always a truly inclusive and great place to work.”
St Mungo’s Trustee, John Watts, said: “I have been homeless for 12 years and currently live in a hostel in Kings Cross. St Mungo’s matters to me because it is where my advocacy for my community, people experiencing homelessness, began. We empower our clients in decisions that impact them; decisions that impact St Mungo’s; and decisions that have influence beyond St Mungo’s. To make the difference we know we can, strategy is crucial. Only with unity and collaboration from all of us: across the sector; government; and beyond, will this travesty be ended. And as the adage goes, everything starts at home, and that for me was with St Mungo’s.”
