Faith and Accommodation
We believe everyone should have access to safe, sustainable and affordable housing where they can thrive. As a charity, we are exploring ways to provide community living at social rents, with support that helps people heal and transition to independent living in mainstream society.
Winter Night Shelter (WNS). While not a housing option, WNS is our first response to helping people off the streets during the coldest months of the year. Run in partnership with Newham churches, it provides a rotating network of winter-night support for up to 15 guests per night. Operating from October to March across two circuits, WNS was for many years the only temporary seasonal accommodation service in Newham. It is now complemented by the Winter Hub, run by the Street Outreach Team.
NEWway WNS remains the only service able to accommodate people who fall outside eligibility criteria, including those with unregulated immigration status, no recourse to public funds, hidden homelessness, low assessed needs, or no verification on the CHAIN database. With our experience, local knowledge, partnerships, resources, and commitment to seeing the church and community live out Isaiah 58, we are well placed to coordinate practical solutions and help our community respond to this call.
Hosting and Lodging Scheme. Following the Housing Justice model, we aimed to build a network of private hosts who could offer short-term accommodation to guests while they wait for a more permanent solution. This preventative approach is usually used at the end of the WNS season, or in urgent cases where a highly vulnerable person would otherwise spend a night on the street while casework is completed. The service matches and supports single homeless guests with residents who have a spare room, typically for up to three months. The process includes thorough safeguarding to ensure both the guest and the host feel comfortable with the arrangement. While the guest is staying with a host, we continue intensive work to help them move on. The key difference between hosting and lodging is that lodging involves rent, in line with the Government’s Rent a Room scheme, while hosting is unpaid and usually supports someone with no recourse to public funds.
Urban Abbey. NEWway have long held a vision to run our own accommodation. We have been driven by a desire to find truly affordable rents, that support movement to employment and harness the support of our community so we offer homes of healing and sanctuary. One of our local churches – Bonny Downs Baptist Church – got a green light to demolish their old building and started constructing their Urban Abbey in partnership with NEWway and the registered housing provider, J49. It is a long-planned dream coming true and a realisation of our ambition.. The building will have two stories. The ground floor will be occupied by our day services and will be rented out for community events. Upstairs will have eight studio flats and a communal area with a terrace garden. There will be two other flats: one for the church ministers, and the other one for visiting community workers who would want to experience community living at Bonny Downs. The flats will be rented by our guests who will have direct support from our charity. This new development will be an expression of the sense of community which already exists around the building. The residents and a wider community will share regular meals, volunteering, working at the local social enterprises, and serving on a management committee. Governance will be modelled on participation and inclusion. It will be a place to rebuild lives, and to foster purpose and belonging, explore creativity, and act as a therapeutic community.
Women Accommodation. Following the positive work with Bonny Downs Abbey, we formed a partnership with the PCC at St Edmund’s Church in Plaistow. This resulted in £25,000 being awarded towards feasibility studies granted by the Church of England Housing Project Grants Scheme. This was to explore the conversion of the first floor of the church into our second Urban Abbey accommodation, with a communal area and five en-suite flats for vulnerable women who experience homelessness. The full redevelopment cost is quoted at £550,000 for which we are seeking capital funding. The project is partnered by J49 and KILO Architects.
The ground floor of the building will be used to relocate the pilot women’s project from our day support centre in East Ham (available from August 2026). The women attending the service will receive specialist casework and advocacy, and be supported to explore and develop a vision of a women’s social enterprise.
“I feel comfort every time I am here. You guys are very kind and helpful, you are like my family.”
NEWway Guest
“I would sing NEWday’s praises from the rooftops all day long, your service is truly amazing.”
NEWway Guest
“Good Day
Time flies. It’s been an Year.
I was homeless and You gave me shelter.
I was hungry and You fed me.
I was cashless and You helped me.
I didn’t have enough clothes and You covered me.
Thank You All from the bottom of my heart for Everything.
I am Blessed to have met Amazing people like You.
God Bless You.”