Nicki Morgan

The annual Brighton, Eastbourne and Hastings Legal Walks are coming up this month! These are 10km sponsored walks which raise funds for free frontline legal advice agencies in these areas, including Citizens Advice, Money Advice Plus, Possability People and the Brighton, Eastbourne and Hastings advice centres run by BHT Sussex. With many more people in rent arrears and other debt as a result of the pandemic and lockdown, these services are currently in huge demand. The Legal Walks are organised by London Legal Support Trust, which supports law centres and legal advice agencies in London and the South East.  Staff … Read more

BHT Sussex is urging people to get advice and representation as soon as possible if they are behind on their rent or mortgage payments, or worried about losing their home. The temporary ban on evictions that was put in place due to the pandemic is ending next week on 31 May 2021. This could have serious consequences for the huge numbers of people who have built up rent arrears during the crisis. BHT Sussex runs three advice centres in Brighton, Hastings and Eastbourne, and with the pause on evictions set to end, their specialist housing advisers are preparing to see … Read more

BHT Sussex is appealing for donations of fabric, ribbons, postcards and other items to make up Soothing Kits with clients at our Threshold Women’s Service. Threshold provides specialist support for women living in BHT services and other selected services in Brighton who are struggling with the impact of trauma on their life. On 17 June, Threshold will be starting The Missing Link, a new psychoeducational group for BHT Sussex and Oasis Project clients, which aims to help them understand trauma and how it affects the brain. The group also aims at supporting clients to build on a sense of safety, … Read more

An innovative pilot scheme from BHT Sussex is trialling an alternative respite service for people in Brighton and Hove who are thinking about suicide. Suicide rates in the city are significantly higher than average rates in England and existing services to support people are overstretched. This new approach presents an alternative which can also take some of the pressure off local clinical services. This pilot service is called Respite@Shore, and it provides a short term, comfortable, non-clinical and caring space to support those thinking about suicide to regain stability and control over their lives. Respite@Shore is based within an existing … Read more

Be OK, our free mental health service for 16-25 year olds in West Sussex, continues to evolve to meet increasing demand and emerging needs. The number of new referrals to the service more than doubled in the year up to April 2021, compared to the previous year. This service supports young people who are struggling with their mental health in any way, offering one-to-one support from peers and professionals, as well as groups and activities. Since the pandemic began, we have adapted and moved a lot of our support online. We have actually found that many people who are struggling … Read more

After a year off in 2020 due to the pandemic, BHT Sussex’s flagship fundraising event, Bike It Brighton, is back this year on Sunday 11 July 2021. The event is now in its fourth year and is made up of three unique cycling routes, a 60- and 30-mile cycling challenge across the South Downs and a family-friendly ride at Preston Park Velodrome. It is a great day out for the whole family, with food and entertainment available throughout the day at the velodrome. Juliet Hinton-Smith, Community Fundraising Officer at BHT Sussex said: We are so excited to be back with … Read more

This month we officially changed our name from Brighton Housing Trust to BHT Sussex, to reflect the work we undertake in many parts of Sussex. Last April, we merged with a mental health care and support charity, Sussex Oakleaf, that provides services in North West Sussex including in Burgess Hill, Haywards Heath and Crawley. We already delivered services in Brighton and Hove, Lewes, Eastbourne and Hastings. BHT Chief Executive, Andy Winter, explained the reasoning behind the change:   The name ‘Brighton Housing Trust’ doesn’t reflect the broad nature of our work. We work well beyond Brighton and Hove, and while … Read more

Clients of specialist mental health service Route One were the latest BHT clients to receive Covid-19 vaccinations last week, when a mobile clinic visited one of our properties in Hove. They join a growing group of vulnerable people who had not initially been prioritised for the vaccine, but who have now been reached thanks to collaborative efforts between Arch Healthcare, St John Ambulance, Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust, Justlife, Here and BHT. BHT’s Route One service provides supported accommodation for sixty people with complex mental health needs. Staff at the project worked with local healthcare provider Here to secure vaccines … Read more

In the twelve months leading up to the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, BHT’s advice centres in Brighton, Eastbourne and Hastings prevented 927 households from becoming homeless. We welcomed the government’s decision to put a moratorium on evictions during the pandemic.  That didn’t mean, however, that people were not becoming homeless.  People lost their accommodation for many reasons including relationship breakdowns, being asked to leave during the lockdown while sofa-surfing, and not being able to afford the cost of their homes, because they had lost their jobs or their income was otherwise reduced. Some of these people will have ended … Read more

Up to the outbreak of Covid-19, First Base was supporting around 70 people each day who were sleeping rough on the streets of Brighton and Hove. The City Council, supported by various charities, did a phenomenal job getting well over 400 homeless people into temporary accommodation, at least half of whom became homeless after the first lockdown. First Base supported these efforts, becoming the main hub in the city for the completion of Covid-19 related referrals to emergency accommodation. As a result of the pandemic, First Base has reviewed and updated what it offers. Although the number of people sleeping … Read more