Haringey Winter Shelters welcome their first guests this week - here's how to help

Haringey churches open their doors to homeless people over the Christmas period this week. In light of a request about which local charities HOL members might like to help this Christmas, I contacted Lia Leonis about how to help.

She has kindly provided me with the following info on the work of the Haringey Winter Shelters which, from this year, became a registered charity known as 'All People All Places'

At HCWS we commit ourselves to providing hospitality to our 'guests', which includes a cooked evening meal, breakfast and a warm and safe bed for the night. As volunteers we do our best to make our 'guests' comfortable. We also provide,in the context of friendship, support and encouragement, for any guest to pursue personal goals. We are a community of predominantly church people (all are welcome to come and volunteer) who are seeking to offer a practical solution to rough sleepers and ‘hidden homeless’ in our locality. We seek not to perpetuate a life style but to break the cycle of homelessness. In our first year we had 117 guests through our shelter, of which 105 found first stage accommodation! 

To make a donation please send any cheques to our office at:

All People All Places, Transform House, Wightman Road, (corner of Raleigh Road), Hornsey, N8 0LT

or contact: Lia@allpeopleallplaces.org 

If you would like to volunteer for a shift at any of the participating churches ( a different church venue each night) you will need to supply a reference and stipulate which evening overnight or morning you are available.

Shifts available are: 

19:00- 22:00 chatting and dinner with guests

21:45-06:30/45 overnight sleep over

06:45 until 08:45 breakfast and clean up

To view a short video of the work of HWCS see the All People, All Places website