Reflecting on four years of partnership with St Mungo's
“Over the last four years, my colleagues have raised more than £400,000 through all sorts of activities including marathons, abseiling, baking, and plant sales, with Clarion match funding pound for pound.”
By Michelle Reynolds, Chief Customer Officer at Clarion Housing Group
As we come to the end of our partnership with St Mungo’s, it’s a moment to reflect on the impact we've made together.
Driven by a passion for ending homelessness and a commitment to supporting those in our communities, this partnership has meant so much, both personally and professionally.
Originally planned for three years, the challenges posed by the pandemic led us to extend our commitment by a further year, providing us with even more opportunities to make a difference.
Over the last four years, my colleagues have raised more than £400,000 through all sorts of activities including marathons, abseiling, baking, and plant sales, with Clarion match funding pound for pound.
The money raised has helped to fund St Mungo’s Recovery College, which provides an inclusive learning, training and employment service, and has a huge impact on people’s recovery and wellbeing.
Colleagues also gave over 1,000 hours of volunteering time to support St Mungo's services, from outreach shifts to delivering training, decorating and improving communal indoor and outdoor areas.
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Alongside several of my executive team colleagues, I volunteered for one of these outreach shifts, walking the streets looking for people sleeping rough and offering help and support alongside a trained St Mungo’s professional.
It was eye-opening, and really affirmed the need for the support provided by organisations like St Mungo’s. In many cases, the challenges facing those I met seemed insurmountable, but St Mungo’s dedicated and compassionate teams knew exactly what to do, identifying immediate sources of support as well as signposting to longer-term guidance, all as part of their work to help people recover from homelessness so they don’t have to return to it.
In addition to fundraising and volunteering, we’ve provided 33 homes for St Mungo’s clients, offering a safe and supportive environment to help them as they rebuild their lives.
Finding work is often a huge challenge for people who have experienced homelessness. Collaborating across multiple departments, including our in-house repairs service Clarion Response, HR, and Clarion Futures, we have worked with St Mungo’s colleagues to explore employment opportunities for St Mungo’s clients. Through this initiative, we have supported five St Mungo’s clients into work placements, providing them with valuable skills and experience to enhance their employability.
This ongoing initiative aims to build a sustainable pathway to employment beyond the partnership, leveraging our position as a major employer to create meaningful opportunities for individuals facing homelessness.
The exchange of knowledge and skills has been another key component of our partnership. Through mutual training initiatives, both organisations have benefited from shared expertise, enhancing our collective capacity to address homelessness and support vulnerable individuals.
Thanks to this approach, St Mungo’s have trained 445 Clarion colleagues through their Homeless Wise and Housing First programmes, which equip participants with the knowledge and skills needed to confidently offer practical and compassionate support to rough sleepers. And St Mungo’s colleagues have helped us develop and implement a comprehensive homelessness strategy aimed at preventing homelessness and supporting vulnerable households.
As we embark on the next chapter, I have no doubt we will carry forward the lessons learned, the relationships built, and the collective determination to make a difference in the lives of people experiencing homelessness.
Together, we have laid the foundation for a brighter future – and I know that while the partnership has come to a close, our commitment to St Mungo’s and their work to end homelessness most certainly has not.