Hear from our Outreach team 

This past year has clearly been a hugely challenging one for us all. We really hope that you are managing to keep safe, well and healthy in the circumstances. We wanted to take this opportunity to say, once again, thank you so much for all your continued support and to update you on some our latest work. Without you, we simply could not do what we do to help Scots in need.

As Easter approaches, it finally seems as though there is some light at the end of the tunnel. At Borderline, we have gradually started meeting clients again face-to-face outdoors observing social distancing guidelines. This is a really important step as we start to resume some our typical frontline outreach work that we normally undertake. Whilst we have closely supported our clients remotely throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, physical interaction with individuals, especially those with complex support needs, can help to build trust and ultimately help make it easier for clients to access and engage with the vital services that they need.

Each client has their own individual story and their own respective support needs. Our clients face issues with their physical health, diagnosed mental health conditions to battling addiction. So we continue to support our clients on a one-to-one basis by offering a wide range of tailored support. In recent months, we have helped clients to access appropriate housing, helped them to maintain their tenancy to keep them off the streets, advocated on their behalf to access vital services, supported them with benefits claims, and even helped clients to attend Covid-19 vaccine appointments. We are working hard to ensure that all our clients remain indoors, whether in emergency, short-term or long-term private accommodation.

The success of moving a lot of our clients away from rough sleeping has taken a lot of dedicated outreach work and collaboration with other homeless services across London, such as The Connection, St Mungo’s, The Passage and beyond. This cross-agency collaboration is so important as it enables us to provide the best possible support for our clients. We will continue to engage with organisations to support both new and existing clients to access vital services.

Thanks to your support, Scots in London are provided with a vital lifeline to rebuild their lives away from the streets once and for all. Your generosity really has meant so much to a smaller charity like ours, especially at this challenging time.