Our History
Action Homeless was founded in the early Seventies by a group of local clergymen and social workers. With the help of Leicester City Council, it opened 2 housing projects (Mayfield House and Hunters Lodge) providing accommodation for 22 homeless men.
By the end of the 1980s, Action Homeless had formally registered as a charity and company limited by guarantee. There then followed a period of major expansion in the charity’s housing and support services for homeless people in the city.
The expansion began with the major refurbishment and re-development of Mayfield House which increased the number of bed spaces from 16 to 28. There then followed the opening of 2 new housing projects in quick succession. Jarvis House opened its doors in 1992 and, a year later, Elmfield House came under the management of Action Homeless. Both projects provided specialist support for homeless men with additional needs such as drug and alcohol dependency.
Two transitional housing projects were added to Action Homeless’ portfolio of services at around the same time. Avondale and Oakfield were both set up to provide a mixture of shared accommodation, bed sits and self contained flats to help people who had previously been homeless get ready for independent living.
By now Action Homeless was expanding at a rapid rate. A new central services team was formed to provide administrative support and direction to the charity. In 1993, the team moved into new offices in Wigston, which remain the headquarters of the charity today.
A year later and working in partnership with Leicester Housing Association, Action Homeless opened the Hollies which provided support to a further 8 homeless men with additional needs. By the end of the 1990s, the Hollies had been renovated to become and 11-bed housing project.
In an important development in 1997, Action Homeless took over the management of Bridge House. For the first time, this enabled the charity to be able to support women and children escaping domestic violence. Bridge House is a safe and secure project where women and children can get the support they need to rebuild their lives.
So as to help people move out of Action Homeless accommodation and into their own homes, the charity established a resettlement service in 1997. The service supports people to move into and sustain their own tenancies. It also supports service users to take up a range of learning and work-based opportunities. Everyone moving out of our accommodation has the opportunity to link up with the resettlement team.
At the end of the 1990s, Action Homeless took over the management of 2 more properties – The Haven and Daneshill House – again both for homeless men. It also took on responsibility for managing the 220 Project based at Tichborne House which provided services and support for pregnant teenagers and young mums. After a period of remodeling in the early 2000s, the 220 Project moved to Elmfield House and Tichborne House became a project for homeless men with learning difficulties.
Working in partnership with Leicester City Council and other local agencies, Action Homeless opened a new specialist housing support project for homeless people with alcohol problems called Evesham House in August 2009.
We have ambitious plans to grow the range of services we provide in the future. To read more about these plans, please see our 3 Year Plan.