What do we do?

SPEAR currently operates seven services and a volunteer programme:

Our Hostel, Penny Wade House, was the first service SPEAR operated and remains the best known. It has 14 beds; with 4 spaces for homeless people with complex needs. It provides homeless people with accommodation for a short time (around three months), during which time clients work to identify their needs and to find suitable move-on accommodation. The Hostel priority client group is verified rough sleepers; referrals are taken from within the organisation (for instance from the Outreach Team) as well as from external agencies.

Penny Wade House, 24 Kew Road, Richmond TW9 2NA. 020 8332 7382

Our Young Person's Support Project offers three young men the opportunity to learn independent living skills and maintain a tenancy for the first time.

We provide a holistic service for all our residents, in the main hostel and in the Young Person's Scheme, responding to any needs that are identified during their stay. This could be providing support to build confidence and develop social skills, or help to apply for jobs and higher education.

Our Drug and Alcohol Service offers a service to clients with a substance misuse issue. They take referrals from doctors, the local Community Drug and Alcohol Team and through SPEAR’s services. The service aims to provide a bespoke solution to substance misuse, whilst also providing services (either ourselves, or through referral) that can tackle any other support needs that the individual has.

The Outreach Team provides individuals with an excellent service, enabling people to leave the street and take their first steps towards a lasting, genuine independence. Rough Sleepers are located and ‘verified’, and we work with them to access temporary accommodation, whilst addressing other needs that were identified during the initial assessment. We also work with people who are homeless but not rough sleeping – for instance people who are staying on a friend’s floor.

The Tenancy Finder Team work in partnership with Landlords and local agencies to help people who are looking for accommodation in the private rented sector. Our applicants have a local connection to one of four London Boroughs: Richmond, Kingston Hounslow and Merton and have low to no support needs and are ready to maintain a tenancy. We offer tenants and landlords a range of support services and financial insurances in order to create sustainable tenancies.
Our service to Landlords is FREE. A professional, commission and hassle free lettings service with fully vetted tenants. We organise all the paperwork so you don’t have to; which includes a FREE inventory and tenancy Agreement preparation. In addition SPEAR will PAY. for a unique and exclusive Insurance policy arranged and provided by Coversure at NO COST TO YOU which covers:

FREE. Rent Guarantee Insurance

FREE. Home Emergency Cover

FREE. Legal Expenses Insurance

If you’re interested in working with us or making a referral then please either call on 020 7036 9771 or email our team tenancyfinder@spearlondon.org

Once a service user has found temporary accommodation, they can start to look for a tenancy. The Tenancy Support Team supports people in temporary and more permanent accommodation. For those who no longer need support we can refer to a housing association or help them to access private sector accommodation. For individuals who need a little more help, we also endeavour to offer supported tenancies, or shared flats (called training flats). All our tenants can access the same support around their income, health and education as any of our other clients.

The Veteran Support Service is being delivered in partnership with the Sir Oswald Stoll Foundation and is funded by the Royal British Legion offering a floating support service for Veterans. We will be delivering this project throughout South West London. This will offer a mixture of short term interventions, referrals and long term Tenancy Support. We will offer signposting to legal, debt and health advice services and support around family reintegration. The support workers will use the Outcomes Star, encouraging clients to improve their physical and mental health, housing situation and financial situation, as well as engaging in meaningful activities, training and employment.

For more information please email spearinfo@veteranssupport.org.uk

Our Skills Development Worker aims to offer all our clients the chance to learn new skills and get involved in activities such as digital photography, fishing or bowling.

Longer term we support clients into volunteering, training and employment. We know that increased self esteem comes with small steps of change and that all these steps make the difference to maintain a home and breaking the cycle of homelessness.

SPEAR understands that everyone is individual and has different needs. We make every effort to provide a person centered approach to help clients achieve their goals so that they can live an independent, fulfilling life.

The Volunteering Officer recruits and manages SPEAR’s volunteer network which provides invaluable support both to our clients and our staff. For more information about volunteering, please see the ‘Working With Us’ page.