The last year in numbers

Our recently released end of year performance figures reveal a busy 2009 at St Giles Trust, highlighting a surge in activity which has led us to far exceed all of our targets.  This has been underpinned by an increasing need for our services and development of the projects we provide.

The most dramatic change was in the number of housing interventions carried out by our staff.  These involve actions to prevent homelessness, including sorting out benefits, liaising with housing associations, local authorities or private landlords. In total, 3,612 positive housing interventions took place in the past year, a massive increase of 206% compared to the previous year and 44% above our set target.

We continued our strong track record of successfully sourcing accommodation for our clients.  This included sourcing private rented tenancies, council or housing association flats or enabling clients to move back in with their family. The total figure of 2,407 accommodation finds means that our set target was exceeded by 167%, an improvement of 84% on the previous year.

Our best ever performance was recorded in the number of paid job outcomes we secured for our clients.  In total, we secured paid work for 226 clients, an increase of 75% on the previous year. This achievement is particularly hard won given the challenging circumstances in the job market.

The number of clients who have qualified as peer advisors has increased by a third.  Clients are trained to NVQ Level 3 in Information, Advice and Guidance and provide a highly credible, trusted service to help other clients.  318 clients successfully graduated as Peer Advisors in the past year, 27% above the set target of 250 and half of them gaining the qualification in prison.

Chief Executive Rob Owen said: “I’m delighted with these results. Behind every one of them is the story of a life transformed with the help of the patient, professional work of our staff – both paid and voluntary.  A stable home and a job are two key factors in reducing the likelihood of someone re-offending.  Once someone has these in place, they are firmly on the road to rehabilitation.”

Overall, 16,000 people were referred to our services over the past year, with 14,000 assessed for help with housing issues.  This suggests that housing need continues to be the main entry point to engage with the wider range of services we offer.  Over 80% of our services are peer-led, demonstrating using trained professionals with direct experience of the issues facing our clients remains at our core.