Shore House provides accommodation and 24-hour intensive support to people with a range of mental health diagnoses, and those experiencing the effects of complex trauma. To help improve the mental and physical wellbeing of our clients, we offer personalised programmes of support which include activities for clients to engage in. One client, Dylan, found that engaging in the activities offered aided their recovery and helped them open up to staff and their community. This is their story. Prior to arriving at Shore House, Dylan had experienced multiple hospitalisations and difficulties with the law. They were also estranged from their family … Read more

In the past few years, we have expanded our organisation and added the Homes for Ukraine Sustainment Service, based in Polegate. This team’s core goal is homeless prevention as they work to support Ukrainian refugees being hosted across Sussex, as well as the hosts themselves. Oksana is one of the many Ukrainian women we have supported who have had to move to the UK due to war. This is her story. Oksana is a 45-year-old woman who arrived in the UK with her teenage daughter. They were placed with a host in Sussex and lived there for a year. However, … Read more

Many clients who seek help from First Base, our day centre for people who are sleeping rough, have multiple and complex needs. When helping a person move away from rough sleeping and into more secure accommodation, the case workers at First Base consider all the physical and mental health needs a client may have. This approach helped Jim get off the streets. Read his story below. “Before I came to First Base, I had lost my supported accommodation and was rough sleeping on the streets. On my first visit to First Base, one of their case workers asked me if … Read more

BHT Sussex is a member of Pathfinder West Sussex – an alliance of organisations working together to enable people with mental health support needs, as well as their carers, to improve their mental health and wellbeing. As part of this offering, Pathfinder has many volunteer peer mentors. Peer Mentors use their lived experiences of mental health challenges to create a supportive environment where their clients can discuss their needs, as well as work towards achieving their goals and aspirations. This is the how one of our peer mentors, Lindsay, became a volunteer at Pathfinder. “I ended up in hospital due … Read more

Having someone you can rely on to help you through difficult situations is essential to a stable environment. This is what we provide in our supported housing service in Mid Sussex. Our clients each have a dedicated support worker who helps them gain independent living skills and improve their overall wellbeing. Such stability and frequent one on one support can effect great change in our clients. This was the case for Josie who came to Mid Sussex Supported Housing following a long-standing history of severe mental health issues. This is Josie’s story. Josie is a young woman with autism who … Read more

Navigating the benefits system can be incredibly difficult, which is why our staff in the East Sussex Floating Support Service are highly trained and knowledgeable about the system. This allows us to help many people across East Sussex who are struggling to access benefits and ultimately improve their quality of life. One such person is Dinah, who came to us for help accessing more financial support. This is her story. The Initial Challenge Dinah is a homeowner who lives with a variety of health conditions, including osteoarthritis, diabetes, hypertension, mobility issues, and has a history of falls. Due to having … Read more

Homelessness is never part of anyone’s life plan and can completely derail the career path someone is on. Our Accommodation for Work project helps people whose lives have been derailed by homelessness access independent accommodation, employment and education. Arwa came to the project as an 18-year-old with the goal of becoming a dentist. However, domestic violence caused her to become homeless, and forced her to leave her dentistry apprenticeship. This is her story. Arwa lived in on the outskirts of London with her family but began experiencing domestic violence due to cultural and religious issues, which caused the relationship with … Read more

Simon moved into the Archway Project in June 2018, following a 10 year stay at another registered care home.

Before Simon moved to Archway he had lived in a registered care home for 10 years and his referral paperwork suggested someone who had become institutionalised; he did not socialise with other residents, had minimal interaction with staff, ate all of his dinners in his room, and relied on staff to cook for him and do his laundry.

Since moving to Archway Simon has shown a marked change. He is now sitting down to dinner with other residents, joining in with walks, games of croquet, trips to cafés and craft activities.

Neil started sleeping rough around two years ago. He was suffering from physical and mental health problems that had been exacerbated by life on the streets.

When he first started coming to First Base, Neil was sleeping under Brighton’s Palace Pier. After sleeping out all night, he looked forward to the chance to get warm and have a shower, put on clean clothes, and have a hot meal. More importantly, he was able to get support and advice to help him find a way out of rough sleeping.

First Base supported Neil to access temporary accommodation but after a serious deterioration in his mental health he was admitted to hospital. While he was in hospital Neil lost his accommodation and, on discharge, he returned to rough sleeping

Maintaining employment whilst being insecurely housed is difficult and can have a negative impact on someone’s mental wellbeing. Our Accommodation for Work project was set up to help people like Zehra, who came to us whilst in emergency accommodation. Zehra was forced to leave her family home due to her mother’s health issues and difficult dynamics in their relationship. Facing homelessness, she was placed into emergency accommodation before coming to the Accommodation for Work’s temporary shared accommodation. Whilst this was happening, she was still working part-time as a support worker in a mental health hospital. Zehra found the job difficult … Read more

BHT Sussex is part of an alliance of organisations in West Sussex who work together to empower people to improve their mental health and wellbeing called Pathfinder. Pathfinder prides itself on its volunteer Peer Mentors – people who use their lived experiences of mental health challenges to create a supportive environment where their clients can discuss their needs, as well as work towards achieving their goals and aspirations. Clarrissa used to attend Peer Mentor groups as a client, soon becoming a Peer Mentor herself. This is her story: “When I first came to Crawley, I was in a really bad … Read more

Going through the process of being granted asylum in the UK can be long, arduous and draining for people who have already been through traumatic events in their country of origin. Abdi went years without representation, having registered his asylum claim in 2021. This is when our Immigration Legal Service stepped in. This is Abdi’s story.