St Wilfrids Centre

About this provider

We work with men and women (at a ratio of around 75:25) who are all vulnerable in their own way. This means that some people who come to us are homeless or are likely to have accommodation that they are struggling to manage. Mental health problems affect a significant number here; caused by abuse, mild spectrum disorders, loneliness or just the basic inability to cope with day to day living in our society. Since 2006 we have gradually changed the focus of St Wilfrid's away from the strict day centre model to a more holistic approach as we now find that at any one time around 70% of our clients are coping with mental health issues and will not engage with other providers. Many struggle with lifeskills and cannot read and write, others cannot cope with structure. If we were not here for them, they simply would not go anywhere else. We give practical support to overcome barriers of social exclusion particularly for those with high support needs who have been unable to work with other agencies.

We operate a 'closed door' policy in order to protect our vulnerable clients. Clients who ‘drop-in' are interviewed before admission whilst formal referrals come from social workers, mental health teams, psychiatrists, community psychiatric nurses (CPN's) and GP's. We are probably the only Centre in the North of England offering services from basic welfare through personal development and education to support for ‘move-on'. We aim to address the basic needs of excluded people and then help them to live with independence, self esteem and dignity. Whilst we do help people recovering from alcohol or substance abuse, St Wilfrid's operates as a dry centre.

We provide our services for those who are marginalised and socially excluded in Sheffield, South Yorkshire and North Derbyshire, as well as transient individuals who travel from town to town. The Centre provides a full day centre opportunity for adults (18 to 60+) and is open to clients from 10am to 4pm each weekday and on average 50-80 men and women use the Centre each day. Since the Project began in 1991, there have been over 240,000 individual visits to use our facilities. In 2012 alone over 600 clients sought our help. Around 50% of our clients are repeat users, and 75% are men.