Wycombe Homeless Connection

Who we are

At Wycombe Homeless Connection, we help homeless people rebuild their lives. We assist them to climb out of the homelessness trap and take their place back in the community.

With the help of a small dedicated staff and an army of local volunteers, we help homeless people overcome the obstacles they face in finding or keeping accommodation and achieving stability.

We believe that every homeless individual in Wycombe has worth and should have the chance of a fresh start, no matter what their situation. That’s why we treat every homeless person we meet with dignity and respect, and our staff and volunteers go the second mile to provide support. Our work is built on the broad support of the local community.

In collaboration with other local agencies, WHC pursues four objectives:

We aim to reduce the harms of homelessness: without creating dependency, we give out emergency food, clothing and bedding to those on the street. We run the Wycombe Winter Night Shelter not only to save life but also to provide a period of stability to allow guests to work with our staff on longer term solutions.

We help homeless people find or keep accommodation. By providing person-centred support, we help individuals understand their situation, provide advice on their options, help them deal with officialdom and challenge unfair practice. We connect people with accommodation to suit their circumstances, from social housing to rehab, community or hostel. We help people fight unfair evictions. We refer them to specialist agencies to deal with problems like addiction or mental health.

We help people reconnect with the community by reigniting their ambitions, helping them maintain their tenancies and assisting them to move towards employment.

Finally, we help people get any official help they are entitled to.

Although the work can be challenging, WHC staff are buoyed up by their shared sense of Christian calling, strong mutual support, and prayer together.

Wycombe Homeless Connection was started by local churches in 2007 out of Christian concern for the poor state of local rough sleepers they were in contact with. The charity’s first project was the Wycombe Winter Night Shelter, which still runs annually. Soon afterwards, year-round advice and support services were added because people were becoming homeless all year. Unfortunately, it’s still happening.