Volunteers create new safe space at Westminster hostel

A team of volunteers from Willmott Dixon Interiors and its supply chain has teamed up to transform part of a Westminster hostel.

King George V Hostel on Great Peter Street is an adult, male-only facility, for people with complex needs, managed by homelessness charity, Single Homeless Project (SHP).?

The hostel caters for single homeless men with a history of sleeping rough in Westminster, particularly those with substance addictions, and with 68 beds, is the largest SHP-run hostel in London.

Like many such facilities, King George’s is in need of renovation.

A recent 32% increase in rough sleeping in the capital has placed an even greater demand on its services, which led SHP to explore ways to maximise the available space at King George’s.

Our volunteers dedicated a day to supporting SHP in repurposing a basement storage room:

• The area was repainted, panelled, and fitted with new flat-pack furniture to make it feel a safer, more homely environment.

• It will serve as a new space where people can relax and connect, addressing an important community need.

Vito Moloney Burke is corporate partnerships manager at SHP. He expressed his thanks to the volunteers and commented on the marked difference they had made.

“The space that Willmott Dixon Interiors has enabled us to create has not just provided a much nicer environment for our clients, it will also encourage them to spend time together and strengthen the sense of community in the hostel.

“It is incredibly important work as our residents often suffer with severe isolation."

Rebecca Davies, social value manager at Willmott Dixon Interiors, added: “SHP does an incredible job in preventing homelessness and supporting people to rebuild their lives. We were only too pleased to help the charity create a new safe space at King George’s, which we hope will be of benefit to the community for years to come."