Having joined Jimmy’s earlier in the year I wanted to take this opportunity to say THANK YOU for all your support. This ship simply wouldn’t sail without you! As is often customary at this point in the year, I also wanted to offer some reflections on Jimmy’s past, present and future, especially with such a big anniversary ahead in 2025.
As you may even remember, Jimmy’s started 29 years ago as a night shelter in the basement of the church on East Road. It provided a service that was immediately needed. One that offered a warm, dry, safe place and a hot meal.
Warmth, rest and nourishment.
Alongside that, the support of individuals who cared deeply, could see the need and wanted to do something to alleviate the deprivation.
We have grown and developed since then. We have deepened our understanding of the huge number of reasons people experience homelessness and rough sleeping. As an organisation, we have adapted our approach to ensure our service is trauma informed. We are even more mindful of the individuals who walk through our doors. We are well connected to partner services and we are able to navigate other sources of support and comfort.
Over time we have developed our spaces too. We now provide private, single bedrooms and bathrooms, and softer, more welcoming communal spaces.
Due to the increasing need to provide support and compassion to those with dual diagnosis we opened our Complex Needs centre. Dual diagnosis is when a person suffers poor mental health, likely due to trauma, coupled with drug and/or alcohol addiction issues, often self medicated to numb their mental health issues. All this alongside homelessness.
Our Complex Needs centre is the only service of its kind in Cambridge and with phenomenal evidential success but with a consistently high waiting list.
When we saw the need we sourced move on houses so our pathway could grow, and our residents could be safe and secure in continuing the supportive, trusting relationships they build with our staff. In recent years we pioneered modular homes, providing independent secure and safe individual homes for people ready for the next steps on their personal journeys.
Why are we doing all this?
Because even today
- Almost 2,000 people are homeless in Cambridgeshire
- 88 people are estimated to be sleeping rough on any given night
- In Cambridge City centre alone the estimate is that 33 people will be sleeping rough on any given night
That’s 33 people, out there in freezing temperatures, who we simply don’t have space for right now.
From a human perspective can you imagine how frightening and stressful it must be to have no choice but to bed down in a shop doorway in our city?
The risk of abuse, physical and verbal, the terror of forcing yourself to stay awake, to be on your guard, to be able to react and get away. The physical toll that would take on your body even before thinking about the cold, the hard ground, the damp. The contorted position you would need to get your body into to be able to stay safe, alert, the stress seeping into every muscle, every sinew.
We are so proud that over almost 30 years, with your help, Jimmy’s has provided half a million bed spaces and served 1 million meals.
But as we look forward, we know the need continues to grow. Jimmy’s needs to provide even more high needs, high quality, safe and trauma informed accommodation. We need more support workers, building up the resilience to support more people, with empathy and kindness as well as the expert professional ability to navigate a bewildering public service landscape.
A year of celebrations is to come, a year of reflection on how far we have come. We’ll be celebrating some of the amazing successes we have had, of getting people back on their feet, supporting them into independent accommodation, worthwhile and fulfilling employment. Not to mention the reconnections with long lost family, a sense of self, of identity, even pride of achievement, and of a lifelong connection and relationship with Jimmy’s.
If you would like to support our work please DONATE HERE.
Wishing you a happy and healthy 2025!
Natasha Davies
Chief Executive, Jimmy’s Cambridge