Navigating the benefits system can be incredibly difficult, which is why our staff in the East Sussex Floating Support Service are highly trained and knowledgeable about the system. This allows us to help many people across East Sussex who are struggling to access benefits and ultimately improve their quality of life. One such person is Dinah, who came to us for help accessing more financial support. This is her story. The Initial Challenge Dinah is a homeowner who lives with a variety of health conditions, including osteoarthritis, diabetes, hypertension, mobility issues, and has a history of falls. Due to having … Read more

Our Court Duty Scheme provides free last-minute advice and court representation for people who are facing eviction, when repossession cases are being heard in Brighton, Lewes or Hastings courts. The courts closed for a period during the Covid-19 pandemic, but when they reopened the scheme resumed.  The Court Duty Scheme helps people like Jane, who was facing eviction after falling behind with her mortgage payments. She was in her fifties and she and her husband had always worked and paid their bills, but suddenly everything changed when her husband suffered a life changing head injury. Jane had her own business … Read more

As an organisation, one of our core missions is homelessness prevention. One way we do this work is through our Housing Advice and Legal Services. One of our clients, Diane reached out to us after rent arrears had built up over many years, and she was facing homelessness. This is her story. Diane had been a sole tenant of a Housing Association property for twenty-eight years. She was renting a three-bedroom flat and had brought up three sons in the property. Diane initially lived at the property with her partner, but they had separated for a period of time and … Read more

Wendy and her adult son, who both live with autism, were facing severe housing challenges. Wendy is the sole carer of her son, who has mobility issues, and they were living in a property that was unfit for habitation. This is Wendy’s story. Wendy’s home was in a state of severe disrepair, with frequent flooding rendering the downstairs of the house uninhabitable. The constant environmental hazards worsened the challenges for Wendy and her son, making it increasingly difficult for both to maintain any sense of stability or comfort in their living conditions. Additionally, both Wendy and her son were agoraphobic … Read more

Helping someone off the streets is not as simple as just providing a roof over their head. Becs was referred to our 52 bed hostel, Phase One, in April 2013 having lost her accommodation. She had previously had her own independent tenancies but these had broken down due to rent arrears which had led to her entering a negative cycle and her engagement with support services had decreased.

Her physical health was poor due to her long-term alcohol and drug addiction which had also impacted her psychological well-being as she had been struggling with establishing positive sleep patterns causing her to feel depressed.

When she came to Phase One she wanted to work towards again getting her own independent accommodation and to re-establish contact with her son.

Martha was referred to Shore House following an intentional overdose of prescription medication that nearly proved fatal, and which resulted in a hospital admission.

As Martha was too physically unwell to travel, the Shore House manager offered to conduct the initial assessment with her in hospital. Martha was offered a self-contained flat within Shore House and was subsequently discharged from hospital to Shore House with integrated support from an Occupational Therapist.

Neil started sleeping rough around two years ago. He was suffering from physical and mental health problems that had been exacerbated by life on the streets.

When he first started coming to First Base, Neil was sleeping under Brighton’s Palace Pier. After sleeping out all night, he looked forward to the chance to get warm and have a shower, put on clean clothes, and have a hot meal. More importantly, he was able to get support and advice to help him find a way out of rough sleeping.

First Base supported Neil to access temporary accommodation but after a serious deterioration in his mental health he was admitted to hospital. While he was in hospital Neil lost his accommodation and, on discharge, he returned to rough sleeping

After going through the difficult journey of recovering from addiction and sleeping rough, being in secure employment can offer purpose to someone’s life. This is the story of Ross, who turned their life around with the help of our Intern Programme, and our Housing Services. “On 31st October 2014, I went into Mill View Hospital Promenade Ward for an alcohol and diazepam detox. Up until my hospital admission, I was street homeless, rough sleeping and begging for change on the streets of Brighton, Hove and Sussex. I was just over 8 stone in weight and had lost most of my … Read more

For many people, there may come a time where they hit a breaking point and can’t carry on without support. This is the case with many of our clients experiencing homelessness, who come to First Base Day Centre to seek support from our highly trained, knowledgeable and compassionate case workers. Each client who walks through our doors receives support from a dedicated case worker to help them move away from rough sleeping. This is what one of our clients, Samuel, experienced when he came to First Base. This is his story.

Over the last couple of years, BHT Sussex’s Addiction Services have noticed an increase in the number of ‘second generation’ addicts. They were children who grew up with one, or both, parents with a severe alcohol and/or drug problem. They often suffered extreme neglect and, in most cases, severe trauma.

The nature of the work that we do at both the Detox Support Project and at the Recovery Project is to help clients to address safely the legacy of their core needs being unmet as children. By doing so, we reduce the chances of those issues becoming triggers for relapse, and they are able to rebuild their lives with the skills and self-belief they were not given as children.

Brendon is a 31-year old alcohol and cocaine addict who recently completed treatment within our Addiction Services.

Mia, a 75-year-old Spanish woman, was living in sheltered accommodation and had been facing significant financial difficulties for approximately five years due to an ongoing issue with her National Insurance (NI) number. This issue caused her benefits to be repeatedly stopped and reinstated, leading to substantial gaps in income. Without consistent benefits, Mia fell behind on her rent, accruing significant arrears, and was at risk of homelessness. This is her story. The Initial Challenge The root cause of the problem was an error made when Mia first registered for benefits: she was assigned the NI number of another individual with … Read more

When someone experiences so many difficulties in life, it can be hard to figure out where to even start to address their situation. At Route One, our team are highly knowledgeable and skilled in helping people who have mental health and/or complex needs. Erica is a previous resident of Route One who was helped by the team to take control of her life and address the difficulties she was facing. This is her story.