NO ONE SHOULD be homeless, says Broadway Homelessness and Support, the London charity that works with more than 9,500 rough sleepers every year, helping them from street to home. Formed in 2002 by the merger of two homelessness organisations, Riverpoint and Housing Services Agency, the headquarters are in the Barbican area, while staff work at 20 sites in the capital. Most employees are frontline workers providing direct services to homeless people. They deliver street outreach, debt advice, hostel accommodation and health services, as well as training and job-seeking support and assistance in finding permanent housing. Helping people achieve their potential is not limited to Broadway's homeless service users; the same attention is directed to its own staff. Employees access an average of six off-the-job days of training a year and are allocated individual personal development plans that are monitored closely at appraisals. External mentoring programmes and internal job-shadowing are some of the opportunities available alongside formal training. A job at Broadway is good for personal growth, say employees, who award the association an 83% positive score that places it in the top-10 small organisations. Management training focuses on developing coaches, not bosses, and every month the senior team invites new starters and employees who have recently celebrated a birthday to partake of tea and cake. www.broadwaylondon.org
