Case Study 05-03-2025
Lady 1 is in her 60s and was returning to Northampton to re-settle after an absence of a few years. She had not eaten properly for almost 2 weeks and was desperately looking for a job. She was in a bad way mentally because of her living situation.
She approached a healthcare agency in the building where our offices are and was signposted to our office, where we gave her food and the chance to have a rest. As she was known to some members of the community as a credible person, a member of staff provided her with accommodation in her home for a period of 3 months, during which time she began working on a part time basis and eventually moved into a room in a shared house. She was so grateful for the support she got from our charity with not only accommodation, but also food, befriending and volunteering activities. She stated a few months ago that without UAA she would not be alive. She is currently studying at college with the aim of becoming a learning support assistant in a school.
Lady 2, B is in her 60s and came to us 4 years ago after being violently beaten by her then partner who threw her out. She was afraid to seek medical treatment because of her undocumented status, fearing going to hospital would ultimately lead to deportation. She had lived with her partner for 10 years and during that period she made a few applications for leave to remain based on private life, however he would sabotage her application by requesting his passport bank during the application process, which meant cancellation of the application. She had been earning some money babysitting some friends children but taking
all her earnings, even though she had hoped to use her monies to send funds to her children and grandchildren in Africa. He used to isolate her from friends so she never formed solid friendships. During their relationship he used to verbally insult her. Additionally, she had blood pressure but was not treated for it as she did not have a GP.
He had secretly applied for his wife to come over and when she was granted her visa is when he beat B up and threw her out, she was then referred to us by a councillor. She stayed with a mum and her young child for a few weeks but complained she was being exploited.
Soon after she came to us we helped her get registered with a GP, as she had high blood pressure for which she had not been getting treatment and was also diagnosed with arthritis. She started getting treatment for that and we also helped her start applying for leave to remain through Red Cross’; immigration service. We supported her with food parcels and non food essentials and she became a very active volunteer with our charity. By that time, she had been in UK for 20 years. She lived with a member of staff rent free for 18 months before getting referred to Red Cross to assist with accommodation. With the cost of living, it was very expensive to house her and a paying lodger was needed. Fortunately, in April 2024 the Red Cross managed to secure her Home Office accommodation in Birmingham and in months ago she finally got her leave to remain granted.
She is very grateful for the support we have provided and she hopes that once she gets her national insurance she can return to Northampton, get a job and continue her involvement with our charity.
Lady 3, M is in her 60s and has some health issues, she has been rough sleeping for over a year and it has taken a toll on her health. She often goes into hospital and GP as a result of the ongoing health issues. She has been helped by another homeless charity with accommodation last winter and continues to be supported with food and other necessities, however this winter she has been sleeping rough, although she gets support with occasional accommodation from time to time,particularly if it’s very cold. The rough sleeping has taken a toll on her mental health too and obviously she doesn’t open up to people. We are assisting
her with other issues and hope to be able to support her with accommodation.
T is a middle aged man who struggles with reading and writing English. As a result of his lack of literacy skills he has struggled to find a job as he needs help with filling in job applications. As a result of lack of work he ended up rough sleeping, in shop and church doorways.
He was referred to us by word of mouth. One of our volunteers as well as a member of staff accompanied him to various employment agencies in Northampton, registering him with several. His limited literacy skills were a barrier to many jobs as several jobs required a person’s ability to read. After a few weeks and with accompanying to jobs he and another volunteer were able to secure seasonal work with Royal Mail.
During this time he was housed by a member of his church so was able to meet some rent payments, however his mother passed away so he had to fly back to Africa to attend to her and his sick wife who is seriously ill. He returned to UK a few weeks ago, has been seeking work and is currently living with a distant relative although they are pressuring him to leave the family home as it is very cramped.
We are working to try and help him get a job and have accompanied him to the job centre and employment agencies. We are hopeful that he will find a job very soon, however in the meantime should he be evicted from his current residence we hope that funds raised through our efforts will cover his living expenses for a couple of weeks until he is able to get back on his feet.
OG is a typical example of the person we would support. She was an out of work healthcare worker who had been looking for a new sponsor as the sponsor did not have any hours for her to work. As a result of being enable to pay for rent she resorted to rough sleeping. She was found by one of our beneficiaries who brought her to us. We started providing her with food parcels and non food essentials and provided her with accommodation for 2 months.
During this time, we helped her with improving her CV, provided interview skills through a West Northamptonshire Council funded project and helped connect her to potential employers through our networks. She secured a job with a new sponsor in December 2024 and is very grateful to our charity.
It is people like OG that make up the bulk of the people approaching us with homelessness issues. We have had referrals from adult social services about people due to be discharged from mental health hospitals who find themselves without accommodation following a medium to long term hospital stay during which time they were not earning and not being eligible for public funds have no income for accommodation or other essential living expenses.
Some people resort to eating disposed food from waste bins, sleeping in parks and doorways. Organisations such as ours try our best to help but as a small charity we have limited resources which is why we have decided to create a fundraising project. We anticipate that the majority of people will only require our support for up to 4 months. All monies raised will go towards direct support for homeless people, paying rental costs.