st-stephens-hall-interiior

First Base Day Centre

More and more people are facing homelessness.

First Base offers a range of services to support people who are sleeping rough or insecurely housed in the city, to get off the streets, start realising their aspirations through work, learning and leisure and find a place they can call home.

We provide a centre of excellence for our partners in the city ensuring that by working together we can improve health, reduce crime and realise opportunity.

We provide a range of support services for clients including:

  • Food, showers, lockers and laundry facilities
  • Case Work Support so people can address the problems causing them to be homeless
  • Accommodation and relocation services
  • Health Care – access to physical, mental and emotional health services including podiatry, physiotherapy, optometry, dentistry and mental health advice and support

We provide a range of activities and further support for clients including:

  • Access to IT facilities
  • Catering training
  • Support to gain qualifications
  • Help with applications for benefits, training and employment
  • Leisure activities
  • Occupational Therapy
  • A “Care Of” postal address
Are you able to donate clothes or toiletries?

We welcome donations of clothes and toiletries year-round, and are currently most in need of coats, jumpers, footwear, sleeping bags, hats and scarfs, to help our clients stay warm over winter. Items can be dropped off at First Base at the address below between 8:30am and 4:30pm from Monday to Friday. A range of particularly useful items can be bought from our Amazon Wish List here. Thank you!

We are part of the Make Change Count alliance, supporting people experiencing homelessness across Brighton.

Find out more about the initiative here.

Accessing the Service

First Base is an ‘open door’ day centre which means that people do not need a referral to access our service. Our rough sleepers sessions  are open to anyone who is street homeless and in need of accommodation. Other activities currently need to be arranged by appointment, so that we can manage numbers and operate safely.

First Base Day Centre opening times

Rough Sleepers session: 9am – 11am, Monday to Friday

Activity sessions: Arranged by appointment

Office hours (for telephone enquiries): 9am - 4.30pm

Contact Details

01273 326844

first.base@bht.org.uk

St Stephen’s Hall, Montpelier Place, Brighton, BN1 3BF

BHT Case Study

Neil

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

Read the full case study
photo of homeless man

Michael

Around half those sleeping rough in Brighton and Hove have a local connection. Others come to Brighton for many reasons: the image of the city that has attracted many of us, perhaps a happy childhood memory of visiting the seaside, or because of its reputation for tolerance and acceptance (for example drugs and the acceptance of LGBT people).

Very, very rarely does someone say that they came to Brighton because of the services for homeless people. Unfortunately, when people arrive in the city without a plan, without social networks, or without considerable financial resources, they can find themselves on the streets.

Michael is a 63 year old man who came to First Base in November 2017. He was new to Brighton and had become homeless after the break-up of his marriage and losing his job. He had moved to Brighton as he thought it would be a more tolerant place.

Read the full case study

Jim

Many clients who seek help from First Base, our day centre for people who are sleeping rough, have multiple and complex needs. When helping a person move away from rough sleeping and into more secure accommodation, the case workers at First Base consider all the physical and mental health needs a client may have. This approach helped Jim get off the streets. Read his story below. “Before I came to First Base, I had lost my supported accommodation and was rough sleeping on the streets. On my first visit to First Base, one of their case workers asked me if … Read more

Read the full case study
Skip to content