Lancaster & District Homeless Action Service Limited

Who we are

The Lancaster & District Homeless Action Service (LDHAS) became a registered charity in 2002 but has supported the homeless and vulnerably housed on our current site for over 30 years. We were originally set up to fill the gap in provisions for homeless people in the area, starting as a drop in, quickly evolving into a day service for the homeless, and now we provide a comprehensive "Hub" with our support staff and integrated partner services.

Our clients are the homeless and vulnerably housed of the Lancaster District, covering an area of over 566-square-km, including not just the city and bordering towns of Morecambe and Heysham, but the towns and hamlets around Lancaster too.

Our primary aim is to support homeless people into secure accommodation and provide assistance to maintain said accommodation, in addition to providing mental health, substance abuse, and advocacy support to ensure long-term quality of life and inclusion for our clients. Although we provide food, hygiene products, clothing, laundry, and showers every day, these basic services are not our primary activity; when clients have their base needs met, our Senior Caseworker is then responsible for devising support packages for clients' long term improvement.

Our main objectives include: improving the quality of life of clients; increase budgeting skills and money management; improving mental and emotional health; improving self-esteem; preventing social isolation; increasing financial inclusion; helping clients manage addiction / substance misuse; improving employment prospects of clients; increasing partnership working to improve outcomes; reducing the stigmas associated with homelessness and poverty.

LDHAS currently has 5 members of staff and our team includes people with lived experience i.e. they experienced substance abuse use, homelessness, or extreme poverty themselves and once needed organisations such as the LDHAS. This is incredibly beneficial to us as it allows us to formulate optimum strategies with the knowledge and understanding of centre-users' needs and their perspectives. Furthermore, having a team with lived experience staff, volunteers, and partner agencies, is another factor contributing to the trust our clientele have for us, making  our services seem even more accessible, especially to those less likely ro attend official appointments or proceedings. Our current staff team is made up of the Centre Manager responsible for the charity's operations and strategic decisions, the Finance Adminstrator responsible for financial strategy, accounts and general admin / HR for the charity, the Senior Caseworker responsible for triaging clients, compiling and managing support plans, interagency work and integration of services, the Support Worker responsible for referrals, coordination of daily activity, one-to-one work with clients, and the Fundraising & Development Officer responsible for applications for grant funding, online fundraising and outreach.

In addition to staff and volunteers, LDHAS is also a "Homeless Hub". A core purpose of our casework is the integration of partner agencies and their services. We already have the following agencies integrated into our service, with more expressing interest in working with us: - a nurse in residence (wound dressing, prescriptions, and advice), Hepatitus C Trust (both testing and treatment), Citizens Advice, Council-appointed Housing Officers (assistance with council housing), Red Rose Recovery (lived experience substance abouse and mental health service), Inspire (drug recovery services, help with recovery scripts), The Well (substance abuse and social inclusion), Changing Futures (lived experience recovery service), Mental Health worker from the Home Treatment Team, Social Workers, NHS Mental Health.

A crucial long-term goal is to transform the LDHAS centre into an even larger Homeless Hub, with a particular focus on mental and physical health, With this in mind, we have purchased and refurbished a three storey building in the centre of Lancaster to carry out our work with clients and intend to move from our current portacabin building on Edward Street to the new building at 2 Aalborg Place in early 2024.

Our work is essential in keeping our clients safe and empowering them, but we can only help them thanks to the generous donations we receive from businesses, trusts and individuals.