Humble Beginnings: Our growth since 1990

For 32 years, Sanctuary Trust has been helping people navigate away from homelessness and addictions.

It’s fair to say we have changed considerably over the years, expanding from our roots in December 1990.

The Sanctuary Trust was created by a humble group of volunteers from a local church in Rochdale, England. Inspired by the Holy Spirit, a group of believers set up a community drop in, which very quickly developed into our very first hostel accommodation.

Since that very first drop-in, Sanctuary Trust has grown to employ 50+ people and many more volunteers, following in the compassionate footsteps of the Rochdale community church of 1990. We’ve expanded to house dozens of at risk individuals, providing holistic, round-the-clock support to many, along side various outreach projects such as Conwy Food Bank, and the Reaching Out Centre- the heartbeat of communities in North Wales and Greater Manchester.

Despite much expansion and change, Sanctuary Trust’s core mission and values remain the same- relieving homelessness, and practically expressing God’s love through Love In Action.

We hope our universal goal to relieve homelessness through action, respect, and empowerment, continues to reach our staff, volunteers, and most importantly, the homeless community- regardless of background, personal belief, or culture.

Although at our core, we aspire to reach many with Christian Love, we look forward to welcoming all to Sanctuary, and hope that we will continue to expand to reach many more in our near future.

Our Projects: Supported Living

At the heart of our services in the present day, are several homeless hostels run by amazing staff who work tirelessly for the good of the homeless community.

Sanctuary Trust’s main course of action is housing homeless clients in our service areas- actively putting a roof over the head of homeless people in our communities.

At Jannat House, we are rapidly relieving clients from adverse conditions on the streets of Manchester. Built for short-term stays, Jannat house links isolated clients, who often have little-to-no support, with services to begin solving homelessness issues. With a tailored programme designed to identify needs, in the short time residents spend at Jannat House, we hope they leave with a collection of tools to continue their journey to secure housing.

In Rochdale, Halsall House offers twelve residents 24 hour support and key sessions- with a specific intent to help those with substance abuse issues. We work to develop professional working relationships with clients and help them identify patterns of behaviour and triggers which can cause repeated substance abuse and social issues.

Across the pond in North Wales, Cornerstone is using a similar model. Cornerstone provides 24 hour support, with a mission to relief housemates battles with addiction. Amongst both Cornerstone and Halsall House, the impact of positive role models and a friendly community is evident, as residents support each other with cooking, cleaning, and developing key life skills.

For those who need a bed for the night, STEP (Sanctuary Trust Emergency Provision) provides food, shower and bath facilities, and a safe place to rest, for those urgently needing a place to sleep for the night.

Our Projects: Outreach & Support

Preventative and empowering services like Conwy Food Bank, the Reaching Out Centre (ROC), and Pass It On, are vital in providing holistic care for people in need.

Beyond providing shelter, Sanctuary Trust have dedicated staff, working every day to meet people where they’re at. We provide food parcels through Conwy Food Bank, safe spaces for people to access support in the Reaching Out Centre, venturing out to people on the streets through our Rough Sleepers Initiative, (RSI) and providing support to people on probation and clients with multiple disadvantages through many other projects under our umbrella.

Many examples of our work operate in Sanctuary Trust’s Reaching Out Centre, where we house our wellbeing service, Rough Sleeper Initiatives, Navigator Initiative, food cupboard and ROC Community Café.

One of these projects, MEAM, strives to Make Every Adult Matter and support clients with even the most complex needs and difficulties. Our ROC Café runs numerous support groups and operates on a ‘pay what you can’ ethos, providing a warm and comforting social space and a meeting hub for all initiatives operating out of the centre.

Across the pond, Conwy Food Bank is renowned for providing emergency food aid for over a decade, to thousands in need. With a long-standing volunteer team, parcels are packed every weekday and referrals are often fulfilled within 24 hours of receipt.

We also are providing floating support services to many through Pass It On Cymru, empowering clients on their journey to success to ‘Pass On’ all they have learnt through opportunities for voluntary work.