For Tanya Marsh, Director of Crisis Skylight Croydon, the most satisfying thing about her job is the feeling of accomplishment in helping others through support and services.

She said: “I am immensely proud of the work that Crisis does and the support that our Skylight service offers to some of the most vulnerable in our society. Homelessness is not inevitable, and we will continue to be here to provide the one-to-one support to help people experiencing homelessness rebuild their lives. Until homelessness is no longer a part of our society, we will continue to work tirelessly and with integrity to provide services for people who need our support.” 

Crisis Skylight Croydon recently introduced a timetable of activities for people at immediate risk of becoming homeless or already homeless, offering them a place to stay busy and be helped from 9 am to 5 pm. The timetable offers sessions such as developing confidence and self-esteem, literacy and IT, CV writing, English lessons, and a variety of other activities.

Marsh said: “Crisis Skylight Croydon opened in 2007 to provide vital services to people experiencing homelessness across the borough. This Skylight is one of 11  centres across Great Britain  offering  one to one support, advice and training for  people  at risk of, or are experiencing homelessness. Through a combination of support  with  housing, employment and training, we work with our clients to end their homelessness and move on with their lives”

“The charity helps people find and keep a rented home, and start their lives from scratch through all the support and activities they provide at the centre. It is supported with the help of the team and housing agencies working alongside them, but also volunteers helping at the centre in Croydon”. 

The activities provided by Crisis are based on the needs of the clients visiting the centre and what they want, providing different types of support from wellbeing to practical skills, to be able to end people’s homelessness and help them change their lives for good.

Chief Executive of Crisis Jon Sparkes, said: “Everyone in our society should have the means to rent a safe, stable home where they can build their lives. But every day at Crisis, we hear of the agonising stress and anxiety people face, unable to afford their rent and keep the roof over their head. Right now, people are losing their homes and being left trapped in homelessness, unable to get back into adequate housing. We have to stop this happening.”