In 1930, the vicar of St George’s Church in the centre of Leeds stacked away the dusty coffins in the church’s crypt and opened up the space to the city’s growing numbers of unemployed and homeless men. 

Before long, the Crypt was offering basic overnight accommodation. By the 1950’s, several houses were also being used, providing hostel-type accommodation for homeless men with alcohol related problems. A house was also opened for homeless mothers - the first accommodation of its kind in the city, providing an alternative to families being separated and children being taken into care.

It is not a criticism to say that the Crypt today would be very recognisable to those who first used its services in those early years. Although the building has recently been beautifully refurbished, the philosophy of the centre has remained the same: to provide shelter and support to those who need it, whoever they may be.

The Centre became a charity in 1967 and, to some extent, separated itself from the rest of the Church’s work. However, it has continued with an openly Christian ethos which is most obvious in the nightly prayer meetings and Christian imagery around the building. The centre’s manager Tim Francis is clear that while the Christian faith is a guiding principle of the centre, it is not a pre-requisite of those who use it. In fact, many of the Centre’s users either have another faith or are openly cynical about religion.

The Crypt has a slogan “meeting the need of the day” which aptly describes is bewildering range of services and its continual metamorphosis. While the older, homeless men are still prominent users of the centre, they have been joined by today’s new dispossessed. The young homeless, drug users, refugees, people with mental health problems and many other disadvantaged people are among the hundreds who come and go in the Crypt every day.

Refugees and asylum seekers are probably the most obvious example of the changing profile of the Centre’s users. Many come to the centre to benefit from the new ESOL training, but they also access the older services. The free food and clothing provision, the Family Centre and  opportunity for a brief respite from an often difficult life in the city have all made the Crypt a popular destination for the city’s refugee population. To meet the demands and challenges brought by this new user group, the Crypt has forged strong links with the Refugee Council whose volunteers now work in the Crypt several days a week. They ensure the best possible reception and service  and are able to signpost people to other services where necessary.

The clothes shop is already a vital resource as it provides very cheap or free clothing to those most in need. The shop is now also staffed by volunteers from the Refugee Council on Mondays and Thursdays to ensure access to free clothing for refugees and asylum seekers.  

The Crypt is also increasingly playing host to new small community groups springing up within the refugee population. For example, an Ethiopian group meets at  the centre every month and will remain there until they have developed enough to find their own accommodation.

Night and Day

The provision of food and shelter for homeless people is one of the Crypt’s oldest and most demanded services. Overnight sleeping at the Crypt is an essential stop-gap and is unique in Leeds. For three nights a week the centre is able to provide crash accommodation for up to ten people. Unfortunately, the demand is always much higher - often around thirty people.

The Centre sees itself as providing accommodation of last resort for rough sleepers in the city, and works hard to provide those who come to the centre in the evening with alternative accommodation. However, there is often nothing available in the city and ten are selected from those left without a bed for the night.

Those wanting to stay at the Centre need not have a referral from another agency. Instead they are referred by the Crypt’s own outreach team  who use a risk assessment process to select those who will be staying at the Centre overnight. This means that those who stay are often particularly vulnerable people. Women usually make up around half of those staying overnight, and they are joined others seen as being at particular risk when sleeping rough on the streets.

The overnight facilities are basic. Three people have their own small bedroom units consisting of a single bed in a tiled room with en-suite sink and toilet. Others sleep on mattresses in the Centre’s main space. It’s not ideal, but despite claims that rough sleeping is in decline, it is often the only option for many people in the city.

Everyone must leave the Centre at 9.00pm every evening, with those staying returning to the building at  11.30pm. They are offered a light supper and settle down for the night. They are woken up early the next morning, receive a breakfast and can have a shower. After cleaning up they leave the Crypt by 8.00am to make way for the other services running in the building during the day.

While the Centre is always reluctant to turn anyone away, it will refuse to admit or accommodate people based on their presenting behaviour. Alcohol, drugs and violent behaviour are not tolerated on the premises and open use may lead to a short term ban.

Food for thought

A modern and well equipped kitchen feeds an average of  130 people every evening and provides food and  refreshments throughout the day. Increasingly, people staying in other supported accommodation in Leeds are using this service as other provision is re-modelled and catering services withdrawn. Another important food service is the distribution of food parcels across the city. These are sent out to individuals and organisations such as Leeds Women’s Aid occasionally even Leeds Social Services.

During the day, the Centre transforms itself many times. It is among other things a family centre, a training centre, a medical centre, a food kitchen, a shop and an advice centre, a meeting room, an art studio and there are even plans to develop a cyber cafe.

A limited medical service is also provided for visitors to the Centre.  In particular a hepatitis B nurse provides jabs and advice every Wednesday evening.

Developing services

The Crypt is now entering a new phase of development which aims to link the users more concretely with mainstream life. There are an increasing number of links with other organisations not traditionally associated with working with homeless people. For example, Park Lane College is now working in partnership with the Crypt to develop opportunities for the centre’s many users to access training and educational opportunities.

The Crypt and Park Lane College are both members of the European Social Fund (ESF) ‘Street Life’ project, and are also investigating how the Centre’s existing services could used to provide a route back into learning. The ESOL (English as a Second or Other Language) training for the many refugees who are using the centre, a computer club to introduce people to the new technology and an art project already operate in the Crypt, and provide a natural starting point. There are even more ambitious ideas around the catering and clothes shop services. These will be developed to provide skills training and work experience in a familiar setting for some of the centre’s users, and there are plans to link them to further education provision to provide some form of accreditation and progression route.

Funding

What is most astonishing about this vast range of services and activities is that the majority of them receive no grant funding at all. The Crypt is one of a very few local charities of this size still able to maintain itself on charitable donations and fund raising. The Crypt has a strict constitutional stance which prohibits it from using money derived from gambling and other similar sources. This has ruled out some key funders such as the national lottery. However, some sources of grant funding (such as ESF) have been taken up by the Crypt in recent years, and as the educational work continues to be developed such grant funding is likely to increase.

Volunteers needed

All this work and limited funding has been possible because of the central role of volunteers in the Crypt’s work. As the range of needs to be met grows and diversifies, so the need for more volunteers grows. The Crypt is always keen to attract new volunteers who could contribute some time to its work and development.

Anyone interested in any aspect of the Crypt’s work or in volunteering in some capacity should contact Tim Francis on 0113 245 9061.Email: or visit the website at http://www.stgeorgescrypt.org.uk