Charlotte Craig

BHT Sussex is celebrating after being awarded £486,697 from the National Lottery Community Fund to extend our successful Accommodation for Work project for another five years. The project provides temporary shared accommodation and support for people in Brighton who are experiencing homelessness and also working or looking for work. The new funding from The National Lottery Community Fund, which distributes money raised by National Lottery players for good causes, will enable a vital local service to continue. The Accommodation for Work project helps people experiencing homelessness to get off the streets and into employment and independent accommodation. In the year … Read more

It is no secret that the UK is in the middle of a housing crisis, which is why we are supporting the #PlanForHousing campaign run by the National Housing Federation. The #PlanForHousing campaign is calling on the next government to have a pragmatic and thorough plan to solve the housing crisis, no matter who is in power. The campaign has six key asks: End child homelessness. Halve overcrowding. Provide the security of a social home for one million more people. Ensure a warm and decent home for seven million more families. Improve affordability. Boost productivity by ensuring every region has … Read more

Volunteers’ Week is an annual celebration of the contribution millions of people make across the UK through volunteering in their communities. It is run by the National Council for Voluntary Organisations and takes place annually in the first week of June. BHT Sussex volunteers worked 2,252 hours of their time in the year 2023/2024, demonstrating how essential volunteers are to the delivery of many of our projects. Celebrations of this achievement included a reception in Burgess Hill, hosted by Mayor Janice Henwood. Our Chief Executive, David Chaffey, was also in attendance, and presented volunteers from Archway and Pathfinder with certificates, … Read more

In October 2022, we secured £4,700 from the National Lottery Community Fund to help transform the gardens of one of our mental health care homes in Hove. This care home, rated ‘Outstanding’ by the Care Quality Commission, runs Step-Down, a service which supports people who are clinically ready to leave hospital but require intensive support to do so. The money helped us transform the garden into a therapeutic sensory garden. Shortly after receiving the funding, by pure coincidence, we met Sue or ‘Magpie Sue’, a gardening enthusiast with extensive knowledge who would go on to be integral to the success … Read more

This week marks Mental Health Awareness Week, an annual week run by the Mental Health Foundation to get the UK thinking about, discussing and destigmatising mental health. This year’s theme is ‘movement’ and how we can all find more moments for movement. BHT Sussex supports the week every May, and this year we are running a social media campaign talking about how mental health is at the centre of the work we do for our clients. You can follow along with the campaign by following us on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. We support Mental Health Awareness Week every year as … Read more

BHT Sussex has announced an expansion of our well-established supported housing service in Mid Sussex. We will now provide additional accommodation and personalised mental health support in Burgess Hill, Haywards Heath, and East Grinstead. The expansion will see our existing service double in size from the start of April 2024. The Mid Sussex Supported Housing service we run provides accommodation alongside practical and mental health support to vulnerable adults who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless. Over a period of six months to two years clients are supported to gain confidence, manage their finances and wellbeing, access other … Read more

As an organisation tackling homelessness, BHT Sussex is heavily affected by the social, political and economic environment in which it operates, and the Spring Budget announced this week has implications for our clients, tenants and staff. We were disappointed that no significant investment to eradicate homelessness was announced at a time when homelessness levels are rising dramatically – the government’s latest figures show a 27% increase in rough sleeping levels in England in a year. We would also have welcomed steps to address the funding crisis in local government, which greatly impacts our services. At present the public finances are … Read more

One of our amazing supporters, Ellie Wall, is running the Brighton half marathon this weekend to raise money for BHT Sussex. The Brighton half is a 13.1 mile race taking place this Sunday 25th February, with a route taking runners past many iconic Brighton landmarks, including the West Pier, the Pavilion and St Peter’s Church. Every year, the event raises vital funds for a huge variety of local and national charities and we are so honoured Ellie picked us to fundraise for. Ellie said, I firmly believe that resources like those provided by BHT should be readily accessible to anyone … Read more