In 2018, we awarded a grant of £25,000 towards a new boiler at the main St Giles site in South London.

Organisation

St Giles Trust works with people in prisons and with disadvantaged communities across the UK. It believes that people with first-hand experience of successfully overcoming issues such as an offending background, homelessness, addictions and/or gang involvement hold the key to positive change in others. Being helped by someone who has ‘been there’ is extremely powerful, and this peer-led approach underpins all St Giles’ services. 

The range of specialist peer-led services that form the backbone of St Giles’ work includes:

• Be Wise: one-to-one holistic support for young people aged 16 to 21 with experience of the criminal justice system in Islington, Tower Hamlets and Newham who are not in employment, education or training;
• Footsteps Project: helping vulnerable women leaving prison to successfully resettle and lead stabilised lives in the community;
• Peer Hubs: a national network of centres offering people with lived experience of issues such as homelessness, long-term unemployment and offending to get their lives back on track by helping others. They are given the opportunity to train as advice workers and gain qualifications, experience and employment.

St Giles also offers resettlement services in a number of prisons to address the needs of serving prisoners and reduce re-offending.

New boiler

St Giles Trust applied for support to replace their 18 years old boiler which was expensive to repair and no longer energy efficient. St Giles Trust is committed to being as environmentally friendly as possible, and at the time held a silver award from the Mayor’s Green Procurement Code. 

We awarded a grant of £25,000 towards the overall project cost which exceeded £58,000. The replacement of St Gile's boiler was of great benefit to staff and clients in the organisation allowing them to continue providing our essential services, and a safe and warm environment for our vulnerable clients. The new boilers are considerably more energy efficient than the old one. This has resulted in cost savings which can be redirected to front line services.