Objects of Durham Action on Single Housing
- The relief of poverty, in particular by the provision of housing to people in necessitous circumstances.
- To promote the care, education and training of people with a mental or physical disability.
Organisation
Durham Action on Single Housing Ltd., is an independent charity, although it is in contact with other similar charities dealing with supported accommodation and homelessness.
The trustees meet bi-monthly and are responsible for the overall management and control of the charity, receiving reports from the Business and Personnel sub-committees.
Would you be interested in becoming a trustee of DASH? We are always looking for new members to bring their skills and experience to us. Please contact us at the registered office for a non-obligation chat.
The History of DASH
DASH started life as a local charity in 1972 called the Durham Cyrenians. It was founded by people who were concerned about the plight of single homeless men. Durham Cyrenians was autonomous but had close links with the national Cyrenian organisation.
Short stay accommodation was provided in rented houses in Durham and district. Young men and women volunteers lived in the projects helping and supporting residents and received free board and pocket money in return for their efforts. It was a cheap and effective way of providing direct access, temporary accommodation but did little to help residents settle back into the community.
This continued until the mid 1980’s, but increasing difficulties in recruiting suitable volunteer workers and the changing nature of homelessness, with many more women, young people and those with mental health problems seeking accommodation, led to changes. Professional, salaried staff were then employed, through funding from national charities. Close links were developed with Health and Social Services, Durham City Council and with Three Rivers Housing Association. By 1989, DASH (we had changed our name in 1988) was firmly established in renovating premises at Dragonville, belonging to the Three Rivers H.A. these houses accommodated ten residents (male and female) plus support and office staff.
In the mid 1990’s, DASH took a further step forward. There was an obvious need for longer stay supported housing where people with long term mental health problems could live. With funding from the National Lottery and Durham County Council Social Services, three houses were purchased to provide accommodation for six longer stay residents. These were opened to residents in 1996. The DASH office moved to rented premises in the centre of Durham City and then back to Dragonville after major refurbishment. The number of accommodation units at Dragonville was reduced from ten to eight but these were now all self contained.
In 2002 DASH expanded, providing support to 6 tenants in their own homes called a Floating Support scheme. This could be DASH tenants moving on or Housing Association, or Local Authority tenants.
In May 2006, DASH in partnership with City of Durham Council, opened the Churchill Square Emergency Accommodation scheme. This was the culmination of several years of negotiations between the two parties, developing the best possible response to immediate single homelessness in the City.The scheme is managed and staffed by DASH, with referrals and allocations coming through the City Council (Durham County Council from April 2009).
In August 2008, DASH received additional funding from Supporting People, major funders since 2003, to open the first of three houses leased from private landlords in Durham. These have helped us to be more responsive to peoples’ immediate needs.
In November 2008, a partnership consisting of DASH, Moving On and SHAID, which provide support to young people in Durham City and Derwentside respectively, joined Stonham as sub contractors in Durham Homestay, a ‘holistic’ floating support service across County Durham. The partnership was supported by hact (housing associations charitable trust).
These projects have seen the organisation increase from five staff to thirteen full time and two part time employees and DASH now addresses homelessness in six separate projects.
Over thirty years after its foundation, DASH remains firmly committed to helping single homeless people. DASH projects currently work with twenty eight service users at any one time and DASH staff work closely with these people to achieve independent living or remain in an existing tenancy.
Having a tradition does not mean DASH is a backward looking organisation. One of the objectives is to “develop innovative responses to contemporary homeless issues.” In this context DASH has evolved from the Durham Cyrenians which had a volunteer work-force and provided very limited temporary housing into an efficient, professional accommodation and support provider.