First Base Day Centre

First Base Day Centre provides essential facilities and Case Worker support to anyone rough sleeping in Brighton and Hove.

We work together with rough sleeper services across the city and are often the first service that people have contact with. Acting as a hub for multiple organisations and teams across a wide range of disciplines, we support our clients to work with services and break down barriers to progress. We provide co-ordinated support to help our clients off the street and into accommodation, as well as supporting people to stay well and minimise harm while they sleep rough.

As a service we aim to ensure that anyone rough sleeping has to do so for the shortest possible amount of time, that people are able to maintain dignity and self-respect while living on the streets, and to foster an environment where people can maintain hope and continue to work towards their aspirations in spite of the challenges of their current circumstances.

We provide a range of support services for clients including:

Home-cooked hot meals, showers, lockers and laundry facilities
A named Case Worker allocated to each client to support them to end homelessness.
Accommodation referrals
Reconnections support if they are out of their own local authority area
Health Clinics tailored to the needs of people experiencing homelessness including: General nursing, mental health, physiotherapy, optometry, dentistry, and liver scans.

We provide a range of activities and further support for clients including:

Access to phone and IT facilities
Help with applications for benefits, training and employment
Leisure activities
Occupational Therapy student placements
A “Care Of” postal address

Are you able to donate clothes or toiletries?

We welcome donations of clothes and toiletries year-round, from coats and jumpers in winter to hats and sun cream in summer. Items can be dropped off at First Base at the address below between 8:30am and 4:30pm from Monday to Friday. A range of particularly useful items can be bought from our Amazon Wish List here. Thank you!

We are part of the Make Change Count alliance, supporting people experiencing homelessness across Brighton.

Find out more about the initiative here.

Accessing the Service

First Base is an ‘open access’ day centre which means that people do not need a referral to access our service. Our Rough Sleeping Sessions are open to anyone who is street homeless and in need of accommodation. Other activities currently need to be arranged by appointment, so that we can manage numbers and operate safely.

First Base Day Centre opening times

Rough Sleeping sessions: We run two open access sessions each weekday morning from 9:00 – 10:30 and 11:00 – 12:30. No referral is required and anyone experiencing homelessness can come to these sessions for support and use of the facilities.

Appointments outside of these times, including activity sessions, are arranged on a case by case basis. The service is open 8:30 – 4:30pm Monday – Friday, including Bank Holidays.