Lee Murphy | Head of Programmes

I started work in Homelessness 26 years ago. I wasn't sure if I had anything useful to offer but I was curious to know the people and the world involved. I'm still curious now, and do, on occasion, also feel useful, so I count that as a success of sorts.

I have 'the best job' working with Opportunities! It combines many of my personal interests and much of what I find important to a good quality of life; enjoying and practising in the arts, being physically active, exploring the world around us, sharing experience as catharsis and a belief in the value and potential of bringing people together. 

I'm most interested in 'the journey', how we get somewhere, what happens along the way and what our experience of it was. For me the beauty of the work, as in life, is discovery.

Rachel Wilson | Team ROC

Before I joined SHP I worked in art education and in some ways very little of my job has changed.

Our team is all about organising spaces and encounters for people to understand themselves differently and to express themselves in ways that weren't on the table before. The big difference is that I get to draw on a much wider range of practices - from working alongside gardeners and musicians to getting out into the amazing communities and sites in the city.

I genuinely look forward to coming into work every day and building something together with the people that live and work in our project. It's hard work sometimes but it really makes you understand how change is possible!

Josh Benfield | Team ROC

Before starting at SHP, I have had a varied work life that’s seen me be a chef, a musician, and a tour guide. All great creative outlets that on the face of it work to engage people’s senses whether it be eating good food, making great music, or telling fascinating stories. 

What I always enjoyed most though was the connection that each of these roles provided between myself and others.  It’s in this curiosity for connection that much of my work life and beyond is now focused on. 

So why SHP and why ROC? Well put simply it allows me to bring my hobbies to work! I get to collaborate with our residents on projects that combine creativity with an opportunity to show the lasting value of trusting and honest relationships. 

I’ve experienced first-hand some of the issues that are faced by our residents and I want to be a part of a place that empowers and supports people in being the best that they can be- SHP is that place.

Jassen Summogum | Team ROC

During the time I spent in Bristol, I found out that I wanted to combine my passion for creating music, theatre, and film and use that as a way to make connections with people from all different walks of life.

I saw then the joy and possibilities of people opening up, collaborating, and breaking down barriers all through using their imagination and tapping into their own creativity.

Since being at SHP I have been truly humbled to learn, listen, and share from so many inspirational people, and the talent here just astounds me.

Having an interdisciplinary approach to the opportunities program offers everyone the chance to develop what they want to see and do, and who knows what wondrous things we can achieve together! That for me is something worth being part of.

Matthew Gunter | Team ROC

I've always spent a lot of time wondering who I am and what that question means. 

Working with the ROC team has helped me to better understand and explore that whatever answers we come to within this process are secondary to the process itself.

... it's all about the process

Across the Wandsworth SHP services residents have been invited to join groups lead by the art, sports, gardening and music branches of the opportunities team. The cycling group is a favourite and a great example of how the activity itself is fun but also simply being able to spend time with each other within the shared experience is just as important. 

I also lead regular meditation and yoga sessions which has been deeply informative in terms of my own Practice and also how we go about opening reflective spaces that people feel comfortable to be a part of. 

We are moving towards a more co-produced way of working together. As part of this process groups then create groups! A great example of this has been the new philosophical discussion group which was conceived through the conversations that organically happened by having a regular time each week to eat breakfast and spend a bit of time together. 

For me this is the essence of what the SHP Recovery and Opportunities programme is and I'm looking forward to see how it unfolds!

Georgie Morris | Team ROC

What I am passionate about is collaborating ‘us humans’ together finding meanings from our personal stories, intertwining them collectively and understanding what that means for the evolution of our species, in the trajectory of growth. I believe that can all happen in groups! Which is why being a recent member of the ROC team ‘fills me with fuel’. 

Re harmonising our connections to the land, our physical bodies, to the vibrations of sound, from food we eat, in relationships together, can be the directional journey I believe our collective community can take, within our ‘paths’, for the potentiality to heal together and live harmoniously.

My role is to facilitate the ever-continuing dance of unfoldment within our individual selves and supporting others to recognise their own agency and power of personal will.

Dancing in woods, whilst eating peanut butter would be a combination of my top joys in life!

Jack Etches | Team ROC

I am the Recovery and Opportunities Coordinator (ROC) for SHP’s mental health hostels in Hammersmith and Fulham. Before joining Single Homeless Project, I spent many years helping activists navigate the criminal justice system, as well as getting some first-hand experience as a service user.

My goal – in both my work at SHP and beyond – is to facilitate the growth of individual and collective autonomy by providing people with the support they need to determine the shape of their own lives. At SHP, this involves me collaborating with our residents to produce a varied programme of activities and events, helping to create an enriching, recovery-orientated environment across our three projects.

Josh Smithson | Sport Coordinator

Before joining SHP as a Sport Coordinator I worked as a PE teacher in Norwich. I’ve recently moved to London and I’m excited about all that it has to offer!  

I enjoyed teaching and particularly enjoyed supporting young people to achieve their goals. During this time, I realised that I am very passionate about helping people and improving their quality of life.  

The Sport Project at SHP provides a great opportunity for me to be able to support those with more complex needs through physical activity. I believe participating in sport and exercise can be the change so many people need and I am grateful to be able to help people make this change.  

I’m very excited to be joining the team at this time as I believe there is a huge opportunity to make a real difference to so many people’s lives.

Taylor Haws | Specialist Health Lead

I am the specialist health lead based in Redbridge and Hackney. I am originally from the United States, so I come with a funny accent! I was first introduced to SHP back in 2019 while finishing my master’s degree in social work. During this time, I completed a student placement within one of SHP’s complex needs hostels where I not only found a passion for helping those in need, but I also learned about underlying health issues impacting many experiencing homelessness. Needless to say, I recognised the need for support and felt driven to help individuals take steps towards independence and prioritising their health.

My goal for my work at SHP is to empower individuals to prioritise their health, to build positive relationships within the community and to bridge the gaps where conventional health support does not currently meet the needs of those experiencing homelessness.

Fiona Campbell | Specialist Health Lead

I started working for SHP as a bank worker at King George's and then became full-time as a day-concierge before becoming a project worker. I was a project worker at King George's for a little over a year and during that time the clients I worked with had enduring mental and physical health needs that weren't being met. We found that the services needed, to reach some of these primary health needs of our clients, didn't exist or weren’t accessible.

It has been fantastic seeing new services like community podiatry, SPOC (outreach nursing) and BBV testing becoming a more regular staple of support within our Westminster services. We have seen that promoting in-reach of services to hostels builds positive relationships between organisations and with clients. Giving clients a greater opportunity to have ownership over their health is really important for the long-term improvement of health and wellbeing.

Samara Fielder | Specialist Health Lead

Before joining SHP I studied at university and worked in Cornwall, my background was within schools, colleges and charities supporting individuals with complex needs. However, after being a country bumpkin my whole life I was eager to move and experience the city life.

When I first moved to London during the height of the pandemic, I began working in a specialist homeless GP practice which opened my eyes to the number of barriers people experiencing homelessness can face in the healthcare world.

After working with clients and hearing their stories, I was more motivated than ever to make a difference within homeless health. I am now so excited to be a part of Health Focus, SHP’s new health programme which will allow us to navigate, streamline and bring together services to achieve accessible and fair healthcare for our clients.

Meg O’Malley | ArtHouse Manager

I am the Arts Manager here at SHP. I have been with SHP for 2 and a half years and together with freelance artists and working closely alongside ROC workers we have created an accessible and bespoke creative programme for clients off all ages across SHP services.  

I love my job because the magic is not only in the end result of what clients have created but the journey is just as, if not more important. We value the process from watching people form new relationships, learning new skills, having a voice and improving their way of life by using art as a tool for the first steps of engagement and recovery.  

I get to work alongside amazing professional artists exploring an array of mediums and analysing which is most successful with our clients psychological and emotional needs. 

I studied Drawing and Applied Arts at University of West of England and I was previously a Bristol based freelance mural artist.

Ruth Milne | Creative Industries Co-ordinator

I deliver the new ‘Creative Industries Project’, which offers people using SHP services the opportunity to engage in practical arts courses and explore training and work within the creative industries. 

I am really excited to be part of a project where people can explore their creativity, come together in to create something new and take steps towards work and training. 

The opportunity to work in a group creatively doesn’t pop up all that often. After years in applied theatre, I believe in the incredible impact creative groupwork can have and am passionate about equal access to the arts.

My favourite part of the job is getting to know the participants, hearing about their passions and working with them to develop their interests further. I love to pop my head into the creative sessions whenever I get the chance!

I trained at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama and am currently developing a piece of verbatim theatre.

Jen Wales | GreenHouse Project Lead

Jen has worked at SHP for a couple of  years now; and loves the job because it involves helping people to engage with and enjoy nature. She finds that being outdoors is really good for her own wellbeing and feels very fortunate that she is able to do this for her job, and spend her time getting her hands muddy! Jen doesn't count herself as a professional gardener having picked it up as she went along through involvement in community gardens and tending to her own plot. Hence, like Lorena she has learned a lot from the people she has worked with!

Jen believes that getting involved with gardening can be a deeply therapeutic and healing experience and that developing a better understanding of how plants can feed and heal us is an important part of our own recovery journeys. Gardening is also a really healthy way to spend time and can be a rewarding way to earn a living for those who need to be outdoors and don't mind a bit of rain!

Lorena Vila | GreenHouse Project Lead

I got into food growing initially because I was upset about food waste and the ‘broken’ food system.

I wanted to do something about it.

Since working at SHP and working with other communities growing food I’ve found that I really enjoy the connections I get, not only with the fresh fruit and vegetables, but also with nature. I love just being outside and enjoying the birds, the trees and, at the allotment, the bees and crickets. Just as important, I find I learn something every time I work with SHP residents and staff, that we can exchange skills and stories and build a richer understanding of the world around us.

Rob Walsh | SoundHouse Project

I love music.... Listening, playing, creating...

I've always found it fascinating that it can bring people together, cause heated discussions, make you laugh and cry.

I had worked for SHP as a building freelancer, and took a keen interest in the opportunities programme. I have been given a chance to get involved with music and am constantly learning just how important music is in everyone's lives.