Inspiring hope

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Lighting a way out of homelessness

The Winchester Beacon is open 365 days a year and provides accommodation, food and vital support services to help break the cycle of homelessness and enable our residents to rebuild their lives.

We offer much more than just a bed for the night; our aim is to create a safe, caring temporary home for our residents, and give support when it’s needed most. Our provision includes comfortable accommodation, a nutritious menu and wide-ranging services to restore self-esteem, develop skills, and support people back into long-term accommodation and independent living.

Our vision is to transform lives, inspire hope and end homelessness.

Last year,

We gave 53 people a bed

We served 10,956 meals to our residents

We provided 356 hours of free counselling and psychotherapy

The average length of stay was 146 nights

A foundation of hope

21st October 2024

A foundation of hope

Seeking volunteer trustees

17th October 2024

Seeking volunteer trustees

Supporters come together on World Homeless Day

15th October 2024

Supporters come together on World Homeless Day

We’d love to keep in touch with you about the work we do, and how you can help and support us.

winchesterbeacon

Our vision is to transform lives, inspire hope and

Our vision is to transform lives, inspire hope and end homelessness.

Our latest Annual Review highlights just some of the many ways we brought this vision to life with the help of our supporters during 2023-2024.

Printed copies of our Annual Review are available from our main site on Jewry Street or you can read it online via the link in our bio.

Would you like the opportunity to make an impact?

Would you like the opportunity to make an impact? We are looking for people who share our passion and commitment and want to join our board of trustees during an exciting time in our development.

Find out more about what we are looking for and how to apply via the link in our bio.

Last night, we came together with our supporters a

Last night, we came together with our supporters and local community to mark #WorldHomelessDay and to share stories, news and plans from The Winchester Beacon.

We were moved to see such a fantastic turn out for the event from both existing supporters and people curious to learn more about what we do.

We aim to inspire hope in our residents and our community, to be a beacon of hope. We chose hope as our focus last night, sharing inspiring stories from residents, volunteers and supporters.

Professor Nick Maguire from the Centre for Homelessness Research and Practice and the University of Southampton shared thought-provoking ideas around the importance of relentless compassion.

At the end of the evening, guests were invited to take away an iris bulb kindly donated by Hillier Garden Centre. Blue irises are believed to represent hope, faith and courage. We invited guests to join with us and symbolically plant hope for the future.

Thank you to The Arc, Winchester for hosting the event. Thank you to our supporter who kindly donated the food and drinks.

Thank you to everyone who came along, a current resident of ours who was in the audience said afterwards how touching it was to see so many people showing their support.

Photos by @lottiestevenson

Homelessness and mental health can so often be int

Homelessness and mental health can so often be intertwined. That is why it is vital that our support for people experiencing homelessness includes so much more than just a safe place to stay.

Our tailored and trauma-informed support, free counselling and psychotherapy, access to local sport all help to support the wellbeing of our residents and nurture a feeling of hope for their future beyond homelessness.

Today is #WorldHomelessDay and later we will be gathering with supporters for our annual Supporters' Evening to talk about what we are doing to help people facing homelessness in and around our city. Today we will also be thinking of individuals across the world facing homelessness and we stand united with other organisations across the globe that, like The Beacon, aspire to a world without homelessness.

#worldhomelessday #worldmentalhealthday

Thankfully, our residents have a warm, safe and we

Thankfully, our residents have a warm, safe and welcoming place to be this evening. As it pours with rain outside, a comforting sausage casserole is being served by one of our volunteers.

Feeding our residents is a real team effort. Meals are often made using food donations from our local community and they are usually cooked by volunteers. Each meal certainly comes with a big portion of kindness.

Thank you to everyone involved in getting food on our tables.

Don't forget, everyone is welcome to our Supporters' Evening this Thursday, there are just a few places left. You can find out more and reserve your place via the link in our bio.

Thank you so much to Geoff who volunteered his tim

Thank you so much to Geoff who volunteered his time to visit Preston Candover Primary School to talk about homelessness and The Winchester Beacon as part of the school's harvest celebrations. Thank you to the school community for all the food donations, your generosity will touch many lives ❤️

#harvest #thankyou #kindness #hampshire #prestoncandover

Meet Catherine. Catherine is one of our fabulous

Meet Catherine.

Catherine is one of our fabulous volunteers. She comes in every week that she can to help out around The Winchester Beacon.

At our Supporters' Evening on Thursday 10th October, Catherine will share her motivation for volunteering and the impact she witnesses The Beacon having on residents' lives.

You are welcome to come along, please find out more and reserve your place via the link in our bio.

#homelessness #volunteering #worldhomelessday

@worldhomelessday

A huge thank you to the @twyfordschool community f

A huge thank you to the @twyfordschool community for your very generous harvest donations. Your amazing efforts filled a mini bus!

The teachers contacted us a few weeks ago to find out what was most needed at our charity and they focused on asking people to donate those specific items. The list of what they donated is very long but here are some highlights:

67 boxes of cereal
40 bottles of ketchup/brown sauce
74 packets of biscuits
23 jars of coffee
21 jars of hot chocolate
212 loo rolls
20 packets of tea bags
23 bags of sugar

Some of our residents helped to unload the donations, they were so moved by the kindness and generosity.

Thank you so much and thank you to everyone who has thought of our residents this harvest and dropped by with donations. We are so fortunate to be surrounded by such a supportive community.

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We’re winners of the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service