Our work

How we work together

The WHP is jointly run by a group of organisations committed to the same goal: ending street homelessness in Westminster.

The group has a part-time coordinator to help convene meetings, and plan and deliver projects.

The regular WHP Core Group is attended by leaders from several key organisations working with people currently experiencing rough sleeping in Westminster: Connection at St Martin’s, Passage, St Mungo’s, West London Mission and Westminster City Council. These organisations are committed to working together in new ways to create more effective systems and services.

A larger Strategic Group meets to provide additional ideas and input and bring a broader perspective to the WHP. This group includes representatives from the NHS, Groundswell, Housing Justice and the Mayday Trust.

Co-production

The WHP is developing its Experts by Experience work, creating ways to co-produce solutions with those who have direct experience of rough sleeping in Westminster. Creating opportunities for co-production with Workforce Experts – people currently working directly with those experiencing rough sleeping – is another area the group is developing.

Subgroups

The WHP has subgroups exploring areas identified as priorities by the WHP members. Current subgroups are:

Collecting and using evidence

This subgroup is currently capturing learning from the Covid-19 response to rough sleeping in Westminster and also reports back to World Habitat on the number of people housed each quarter.

EU rough sleeping

This subgroup is currently focused on a project exploring how to better meet the needs of Roma people facing destitution in Westminster and beyond.

Day services

This subgroup includes a new project which sees practitioners from across organisations and disciplines working together as a team to influence systems change.

For more examples of our partnership working see Partnership in action.

Funding

The WHP does not distribute or hold funds. We sometimes seek funding from other organisations to develop our work. The partnership itself is currently funded by London Housing Foundation, Westminster City Council and World Habitat.

The following values guide our work as a partnership:

Collaborative

We believe we achieve more by working in partnership

Honest

We are honest and straightforward in all our dealings

Innovative

We are innovative and proactive

Responsive

We are responsive to emerging needs

Open-minded

We are open-minded and are always looking to learn from others

Passionate

We are passionate and determined in our belief that together we can end rough sleeping