Our crisis support centre is a place of refuge where we provide food, daytime shelter, clothing, shower facilities and use of postal and internet services. We also host a range of support agencies who offer advice on housing, benefits and health issues.
Some people stay for days, others for months but our aim is to get people back on the road to recovery as soon as possible.
It’s also a meeting place and a lot of people see this as the greatest value of the centre. Lonely and marginalised people can find friends, build supportive relationships and connect with their community.
The support centre in numbers
40
Average number of people we serve every morning
3 months
Duration of the average visit
7,500
Visits per year
4,000
Clothing requests we meet annually
600
Average number of free haircuts given each year
What we offer:
Food & drink
- A cooked breakfast every morning.
- Complimentary tea and coffee, toast and toppings
- Food to take away
- Bread and pastries come from Richmond Hill Bakery, Gail’s, Wholefoods & others
- Takeaway snacks and food donated by the felix Project and City Harvest
Washing, shaving and toilets
- Shower facilities, with towels, soap and shaving toiletries
- Volunteer hairdressers are available
Clothing, underwear and cold weather support
- Complimentary clothes, underwear, and shoes/trainers when in stock
- Cold weather clothing
- High-quality seasonal sleeping bags
Communications
- Use of personal computers
- Complimentary internet access
- Free Wi-Fi
- Free postal address
- Free use of telephones for support purposes
Richmond Foodbank
The Richmond Foodbank operates from our centre on Mondays and Thursdays between 12:30 and 16:00. Other locations in the borough can be found here.
Hub Outreach
Because of our role in the community, many external agencies use us as an outreach hub. Richmond’s homeless agency SPEAR, the C.A.B., CGL (Richmond integrated Recovery Services for drug and alcohol), and visiting medical and mental health agencies all use our location to practice their services. Spectra also runs a monthly health outreach programme during the morning drop-in.
Winter Night Shelter
Winter is cruelest season for the homeless so we are the hub for a winter night shelter service every year between November and April. This includes an evening meal, breakfast and overnight accommodation at seven local churches including our own premises.
We offer this service as part of the Glass Door Winter Night Shelter Scheme. We also host case-working for Glass Door throughout the year and help them secure accommodation and tenancy support.
Case worker contacts:
David Logan
casework@vineyardcommunity.org
Vineyard Community Centre
Step-free access
Our cafe and garden can be accessed at pavement level and we offer accessible WC facilities. Our charity shop is accessible via two steps from the main lower entranc
See more of our services
Community nursing, empowerment programs, the Richmond Foodbank and more…