A collection of guest stories: Winter Night Shelters 2024-25

*All guest names in this blog have been changed to protect their identities.  

Welcome to the first post in our new series, where we spotlight the stories of several guests that our caseworkers have supported over the last few months. We’ll be focusing on guests who stayed in our Winter Night Shelters this 2024-25 season. 

At Glass Door Homeless Charity, we run the largest network of open access Emergency Winter Night Shelters in the UK. Open access means that anyone can come to us for support, no matter who they are or where they come from.  

Our shelter season ran from November 2024 – April 2025, and we welcomed a total of 570 guests. While our shelters offer emergency support, they are just the beginning of the journey out of homelessness – through our shelters, guests are able to work with a Glass Door caseworker for expert advice and advocacy support. 

In this blog, we’ll spotlight three stories of guests we supported this winter, from the perspectives of our caseworkers who supported them. Their stories show how diverse and complex homelessness is in London, that it can truly happen to anyone, and how our caseworkers work tirelessly to support guests in building a route out of homelessness. 

Meet Samuel*, who stayed for 3 nights in our night shelters 

Samuel, in his early 60s, was illegally evicted from his accommodation two years ago. He continued working after being evicted and was paying for a room through Booking.com. The owner of the room let him stay there for over a year, unofficially and without a contract.  

However, he then lost his job and became homeless. He couldn't make a homeless application through the council as he had no local connection – as he could not prove he had been a tenant in the area. So, he slept at a North London train station for two months and came to our partner drop-in centre to speak to a caseworker.  

He received a night shelter space the same day and we paid for a 60+ oyster card so that he could travel for free. Once the oyster card arrived, we booked him on to house viewings and he was fortunately given the first apartment he viewed. We also found local donations for bedding and kitchen utensils. Two months after moving in, he got back to his old job, and now Samuel is rebuilding his life. 

Luckily, the process with Samuel was a pretty quick one, as he was housed within three weeks of the first casework meeting, and only 3 days after receiving a night shelter space. He has virtually no support needs, and also has a good tenancy history in London, which may have contributed to the speed with which he found housing. 

Samuel expressed a lot of embarrassment about his situation. He said that in his culture, men are expected to be successful and provide. He said his favourite thing to do is work, so when he lost his job and accommodation, he felt like he had failed. Samuel’s caseworker spoke with him a lot about how the situation was out of his control, and not because of him being a failure or doing anything 'wrong'. 

Meet Annie*, who stayed for 11 nights in our night shelters 

Annie was a pregnant woman in her 30s who stayed in our women’s winter night shelter, arriving in early January. She had previously been sofa-surfing at her partner’s temporary accommodation but had been asked to leave by the landlord. She had approached her local authority, but she had been turned away without any support or offer of accommodation.  

She began working with our casework team who advocated on her behalf to the local authority and supported her to make a homeless application. We liaised on her behalf with mental health services, the hospital discharge team and social services.  

Annie is now in temporary accommodation and linked in with social services in her new area who are supporting her to prepare for her baby to arrive.  

She found being homeless very traumatising, and although she is now housed in temporary accommodation, she told her caseworker that she is still constantly living in fear that she will be made homeless again. 

She is struggling to survive on the little benefits that she has, but we are still working with her to make a claim for disability benefits. She is also working well with her social worker and midwifery team, and she’s been referred to talking therapy. 

Meet Sara*, who stayed for 4 months in our night shelters 

Sara is a British citizen in her 30s who had been living abroad for eight years. She returned to the UK last summer but had no local connection to any one local authority, making it difficult to make a homeless application.   

She was regularly visiting the hospital due to several health issues, and was sofa-surfing all around London. She had no ID and no income, both of which were big barriers to her accessing accommodation. 

Sara worked with our casework team to secure advance payment of Universal Credit and secure a Citizens Card which could be used as ID. The casework team also worked with another women’s charity who were supporting her to develop a plan to secure a British passport.   

Glass Door referred her to housing providers, and after four months in the night shelters, she was eventually housed in private rented accommodation in South London. Sara was also referred to counselling at her local mosque. 

These are just a few guest stories from our last Winter Night Shelter season, but they are not the only ones. It's important for us to shine light on the experiences of our guests – behind the numbers, there are 570 unique stories to share. Their stories give insight into the stark reality of homelessness in London, and how we can help.