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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 IT facilities
  • Catering training
  • Support to gain qualifications
  • Help with applications for benefits, training and employment
  • Leisure activities
  • Occupational Therapy
  • 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.

Contact Details

01273 326844

[email protected]

St Stephen’s Hall, Montpelier Place, Brighton, BN1 3BF

BHT Case Study

Samuel

For many people, there may come a time where they hit a breaking point and can’t carry on without support. This is the case with many of our clients experiencing homelessness, who come to First Base Day Centre to seek support from our highly trained, knowledgeable and compassionate case workers. Each client who walks through our doors receives support from a dedicated case worker to help them move away from rough sleeping. This is what one of our clients, Samuel, experienced when he came to First Base. This is his story.

Read the full case study

Jim

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

Read the full case study

Neil

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

Read the full case study
photo of homeless man

Michael

Around half those sleeping rough in Brighton and Hove have a local connection. Others come to Brighton for many reasons: the image of the city that has attracted many of us, perhaps a happy childhood memory of visiting the seaside, or because of its reputation for tolerance and acceptance (for example drugs and the acceptance of LGBT people).

Very, very rarely does someone say that they came to Brighton because of the services for homeless people. Unfortunately, when people arrive in the city without a plan, without social networks, or without considerable financial resources, they can find themselves on the streets.

Michael is a 63 year old man who came to First Base in November 2017. He was new to Brighton and had become homeless after the break-up of his marriage and losing his job. He had moved to Brighton as he thought it would be a more tolerant place.

Read the full case study
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