Turning Tides Impact Report – 2023/2024

A note from our Chief Executive

“A successful but challenging year.”

I’m excited to share with you this overview of the many successes, and some of the challenges, that Turning Tides has met this year. When times are difficult, and need goes up for our services, we and other charities rise to the challenge. Sometimes it’s difficult to focus on the positive. But this impact report, I hope, reflects the charity’s life-changing work.

Newcomers to the charity often show surprise at how much bigger and broader it is than they thought. From the outside it might seem we impact only a handful of local people experiencing homelessness. But in fact we have a huge range of 30 services and projects across West Sussex, which were accessed by over 1,000 people in 2023/24.

It is often difficult to convey the impact we make on individual lives as each is so personal and different. When I recently spoke at a Worthing Mental Health Awareness event, I was struck how many former clients came up to say how Turning Tides had touched their lives and were now established in their own accommodation, with jobs and confidence for the future. One person talked about his successful business, and another had set up a charity. So the impact is not just pathways out of rough sleeping and improved wellbeing, but from dependence to giving back to our communities. We pride ourselves on how we stick with our clients through thick and thin; the path to full independence is rarely linear and predictable, but we’re seeing some real lasting impacts.

This is very clearly shown in the success of Housing First placements, highlighted in this report. I write about the positives, but I’m also mindful that the route into rough sleeping often leaves lifelong scars due to trauma, poor physical and mental health, and sometimes substance misuse. These take their toll, and unfortunately we have seen a large increase in the numbers of our clients dying young over the last three years.

This means the call to action in our mission to end local homelessness is more urgent than ever. We have seen a rapid growth in council temporary accommodation figures since COVID. All our schemes are constantly full. Consistently over the last 10 years, about 75% of clients have a local connection. They are our own. Which is why Turning Tides is committed to mobilising local supporters and 200 volunteers.

This report tries to convey the scale and range of our impacts, but please remember that each statistic is a person. When their life is improved, so also is that of their friends, families and communities. I recently met a client who has overcome their addiction and has custody of their children. It is also about building the future for the next generation. I commend the report to you.