SUTTON WINTER NIGHT SHELTER

bringing guests into the warmth of community, shelter and hope for 8 weeks.

19th January to 16th March.

About the Shelter

Venues

The Winter Night shelter is a roaming shelter, rotating between 4 different church venues throughout the week

Monday and Tuesday – North Cheam Baptist Church, Ridge Road, SM3 9LY

Wednesday and Thurday – Good Shepherd Carshalton Beeches, Queen Mary’s Ave, SM5 4NP

Friday and Saturday – River Church, Carshalton Road, SM5 3QB

Sunday – Salvation Army Sutton, Benhill Ave, SM1 4DD

Guests

The shelter can usually have around 10 guests.

People who are rough sleeping or about to become homeless can be referred to the shelter by Sutton Council’s Housing Advice Team, particularly working closely with their Rough Sleeping Lead.

Shelter staff work closely with the council’s Rough sleeping Lead and triage all referrals to assess suitability. People who have high-risk behaviours will not be accepted.

Schedule

6:30pm - Evening volunteers arrive (venue leader, hosts, cook), set up and pray

7:15-8pm - Guests arrive within this time

8pm - Dinner is served, then time for conversation and relaxation

10:30pm - Prayer and shift swap (current volunteers leave, overnight volunteers arrive)

10:45pm - External doors are locked for the night

11pm - Lights out

6am - Prayer and shift swap (overnight volunteers leave, morning volunteers arrive)

6:45am - Guests woken

7:15am - Light breakfast served

8am - Guests leave and everything is packed up

9am - Volunteers pray and leave (equipment moved to the next venue if it’s a moving day)

Volunteering with the Shelter

Sutton Winter night shelter need around 80-100 volunteers to safely run the shelter, and as a faith-based project we want these to come from churches across the borough. Volunteers support the delivery of the shelter through transporting food and equipment, cooking or serving food, or hosting guests at the venues, including sleeping there overnight (in a separate room). Please consider whether you can make a weekly or almost-weekly commitment for this 8-week project (minimum 6 shifts).

There will also be in-person training taking place in January for anyone who will be on site with the guests, and food safety training for those who are cooking.

Volunteer Host - Mornings & Evenings

Put your faith into action to care for the homeless as part of Sutton Winter Night Shelter. Be a warm and welcoming presence at the shelter morning or evening, sharing a simple meal or cup of tea and chatting or taking part in activities with the guests. Requires attendance at the shelter 6:30-10:30pm for evening shifts, and 6-9am for morning shifts.

Click here for more information and to apply to be a volunteer host.

Overnight Volunteer - Overnight

You can play a vital role for the shelter by staying overnight, 10:30pm - 6:00am. We cannot stay open unless we have at least 2 people on site! With other volunteers, you'll take turns being awake to ensure that there is always someone alert and ready to respond as needed (e.g. if there was a fire alarm). There will be an on-call number to call staff in an emergency.

Please note this role involves minimal/no interaction with the guests as they will be resting at these times - perfect if you prefer your serving to be behind the scenes!

Click here for more information and to apply to be an overnight volunteer.

Transport Volunteer - Mornings

As a roaming shelter, it's essential that the camp beds, camp mattresses and bedding are all where they are needed, so guests can get a good night's sleep. We need people with good size vehicles to help move the equipment between venues on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday mornings, roughly 8:30-9:30am (exact timings TBC).

Please note this role does not involve contact with the guests - perfect if you prefer to do something behind the scenes!

Click here for more information and to apply to be a transport volunteer.

Volunteer COOK - Evenings

If you love to see people happy and fed and are comfortable catering for a large group then this role could be perfect for you! Put your faith into action by planning and cooking dinner for our guests and volunteers at the night shelter. Requires attendance at the shelter 6:30-9:30pm.

Click here for more information and to apply to be a volunteer cook.

For more information email shelter@suttoncommunityworks.org