St Giles London

We have two London-based offices – our HQ in Camberwell, south London and an office in Holloway Road, north London.  Both offer a broad range of services helping people overcome adversity, move their lives forward whilst inspiring and supporting others to do the same.  Our services include employment services for disadvantaged adults and young people, help for adults with multiple and complex needs and support for vulnerable young people who are being criminally exploited.

London Peer Hub

The London Peer Hub helps people who have experienced many different forms of disadvantage to gain the skills and qualifications they need to help others make positive progress.

They offer people training to Level 3 in Information, Advice and Guidance whilst they undertake supported work placements with other teams within St Giles and with partner organisations in the sector.

The aims of the Peer Hubs:

  • To help people who have overcome adversity in their lives to improve their skills and access employment opportunities
  • To add value to the work of other local partners through enabling them to benefit from the Peer Advisors we train
  • To reach some of the most vulnerable people in local communities, especially those who do not usually respond to offers of help, through credible services from someone to whom they can relate

Preventative work with young people

Our teams work in partnership with local authorities across London to help young men and women involved in serious violence, county lines and other types of criminal exploitation.  We are the main service provider in the Mayor of London commissioned Rescue and Response pan-London county lines intervention project.

Our team are also embedded in local authority integrated gangs units across London to help support their work. All of our staff have lived experience of the issues facing the young people they help as this makes them highly credible and improves the rate of engagement with what are often extremely vulnerable young people.

We work alongside clinical staff in a number of hospitals to support young people who have been admitted as a result of serious violence. Our caseworkers work with the young person to address underlying issues, offer support and advocacy and prevent the likelihood of the young person returning to the same situations which put them in hospital once discharged. 

Our caseworkers are based in London custody suites to work with young people at risk at point of arrest, offering advocacy and ongoing support to help them access positive opportunities and prevent further involvement with the criminal justice system. 

The preventative work carried out through the SOS+ Service was first developed in London in response to demands from parents in communities affected by knife crime.  Our team of specially trained facilitators carry out interactive sessions in schools, colleges, pupil referral units and similar setting across Greater London raising awareness amongst children and young people and also professionals working with them.

Employment support services

We offer a range of services helping adults and young people who have experienced issues such as homelessness, long-term unemployment, involvement in the criminal justice system and other similar barriers get personalised, specialist help to overcome barriers and move their lives forward. This long-standing area of our work also enables other teams with St Giles to refer people to these services.

In-work poverty is also a big area which this team works with and they can draw on specialist welfare rights advice to ensure people affected by this issue are getting the support to which they are entitled so they can improve their situations and wellbeing.

Help for adults experiencing multiple and complex needs

Our peer-led approach means we are able to reach the most vulnerable people on the margins of society who may struggle to engage with other services.

We are involved in a cluster of projects in south London which help people who have multiple needs around substance misuse, mental health issues, homelessness and involvement in the criminal justice system. Sourcing suitable housing is a particular challenge in this area of our work. We offer tailored, peer led services which work alongside other agencies to enable people overcome barriers, stabilise their situations and progress towards independence.

We also work with people who have multiple needs to help them move towards employment through the Peer Circles project. Peer Circles is a Building Better Opportunities Project funded by the European Social Fund and The National Lottery Community Fund. By offering a peer-led approach we can help improve levels of confidence, self-belief and well-being in individuals to help them move closer towards employment as a long-term goal.

The Pantry

Many of the individuals and families we support are affected by food poverty. Our London Pantries allow them to access fresh, nutritious, high quality food whilst benefitting from advice and support on how to address any underlying issues such as debt, housing, employment and much more.

Services for women and children

We have a team offering support to a number of our projects offering support and expertise across our services on family support issues. Typically, the families are affected by issues such as poverty, long-term unemployment, substance misuse and gang involvement.  Our role is to help the families get the support they need to become independent and resilient. 

A women-only session is also available through the Peer Circles project described above. Through our work with vulnerable young people involved in or at risk of exploitation we offer support to young women at risk through ensuring they are safe, supported and engaged with other services.

Brewbird

Brewbird is our Social Enterprise Café, offering fresh new opportunities to people who need added help to find employment. It is a south London-based café and catering company with a difference. The people employed in Brewbird all use St Giles's services. Through offering supported work placements, Brewbird gives them a stepping stone towards permanent employment, helping them gain confidence and new skills.

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