York Road Project, Woking’s homelessness charity, is holding an open morning on Saturday (10 October) to mark World Homeless Day.

“We wanted to open our doors and show the local community what we do,” said Robert Eyers, the charity’s fundraising manager.

“So many local people support us, and World Homeless Day felt like a good chance to share what our team achieve thanks to their help.

“Plus there must be lots of Woking residents who have no idea who we are, or that there’s a need for a homelessness charity in Surrey. Everyone’s welcome to pop in, even just for a few minutes. We’d love to say hello.”

York Road Project supported 181 local people in the past year, with a range of services including short-term accommodation at their 10-bed building on York Road; long term supported accommodation; personal support including coaching, one-to-one sessions and social activities; and essential resources (such as showers, food and clothes) for anyone sleeping rough in the local area.

The open morning will be held at the charity’s Resource Centre - 30 Goldsworth Road, Woking - and will run from 10am to 1pm.

There will be short speeches from the charity’s CEO and chair at 11am, and attendees are expected to include Woking Mayor Cllr Rob Leach and MP Will Forster.

The charity has titled the event “Today, Tonight, Tomorrow” and is promising to use the day to announce some changes to their services.

“We want to emphasise how our support goes far beyond a bed for the night,” explained Robert. “So we will be changing the names of some of our buildings and services, and updating the way we talk about what we do.

“I don’t want to spoil our announcement too much but, if you can make it on Saturday morning, you’ll be arriving at our Resource Centre but leaving The Today Centre…”

York Road Project’s emphasis on going beyond just providing a bed for the night is partly a response to Andy Burnham’s new rough sleeping plan.

The Prime Minister’s promise to offer everyone a bed by Christmas has been backed up by increasing the funding available to local authorities, but not yet with direct engagement with the charities and community groups delivering services on the ground.

York Road Project says it is talking to Surrey’s councils about how the local authorities’ new funding can best be spent, but warn that short-term fixes will not be sufficient to change people’s lives.

“If people are just offered a mattress in a temporary shelter over Christmas,” says the charity’s CEO Cherisse Dealtry, “they won’t be getting the support they need to change their lives. Many of them will be sleeping rough again in the future.

“Fortunately there are lots of good conversations also happening about increasing the personal support available – for people’s mental health, finances and more. That is great news, because it’s the way to actually end rough sleeping: people need support Today, Tonight and Tomorrow.”