I have just received this email from Sue and Arnie, the organisers of Peterborough Light Project and wanted to share with you what the project achieved. It has certainly made a huge impact on those lives of those that were homeless.

As many of you know, from my most recent blog post on this topic, I was worried about the four that joined the project late on, however it seems things turned out well for them too.

  • 258 volunteers registered to take part in the project – most appear to have done so
  • Volunteers came from 27 different churches
  • 20% of our volunteers were non-Christians but we hope they will have seen something that may want them to learn more – hence the Alpha invite.
  • 46 individual guests were referred to us over the 3-month period
  • 3 guests were referred twice during the 3-month period
  • 7 guests who had gone through the referral process did not arrive for their first night
  • 39 guests actually stayed one night or more at the Night Shelter
  • A total of 403 beds were provided by the Night Shelter
  • 9 of our guests who stayed were ladies
  • 4 of our guests were actively working during their stay – often working unsociable shifts.
  • Our longest duration guest stayed 57 nights – they are now being housed.
  • 9 of our guests stayed more than 10 days
  • 18 of our guests stayed 3 nights or less
  • 10 of our guests were moved into accommodation as a direct result of the project
  • 20 of our guests left of their own accord – we can only assume they found accommodation with friends or family
  • 3 of our guests were not re-refered by the Council either due to them not having any entitlement for support in Peterborough or because they were deemed too high risk (1 case only)
  • 1 guest was removed from the shelter on an immigration issue (outside of our control)
  • 1 guest was banned due to bad behaviour (our decision)
  • On our last night, of the final 4 guests who had not had accommodation secured the following is known:
  • 1 will stay with friends 
  • 2 are actively bidding on accommodation and hope to stay with friends until something becomes available – they will now have become a priority
  • 1 guest is actively working and staying with friends until he can pay for accommodation

Do you have any questions about Peterborough Light Project or my involvement?