Exclusive:“I’d either be dead or hooked on drugs”: Why former homeless man backs Archer Project’s £2m campaign
A Sheffield homelessness charity is launching a £2 million appeal to rebuild its ageing city centre base - as a former rough sleeper says the organisation “saved” his life.
For years, people experiencing homelessness in Sheffield have walked through the doors of the Archer Project looking for the basics: a hot meal, a shower, somewhere safe to sit for an hour.
But for Jonathan, those doors may have been the difference between life and death.
“Without the Archer project, I would probably be dead,” he said.
Jonathan first came to the Archer Project four years ago after spending 10 weeks homeless on the streets of Sheffield.
He had been thrown out of his uncle’s home after using the property to sell drugs - something he says he had been forced into by others involved in criminal activity.
While sleeping rough, he was arrested and later jailed for two years. After being released into supported accommodation, he started visiting the Archer Project for meals.
Like many people arriving at the Campo Lane centre, Jonathan came through the doors needing somewhere warm to sit, somewhere to wash and somewhere safe to eat.
He was also dealing with the physical effects of addiction, including a painful leg ulcer linked to past drug use.
Now, years later, he still visits the centre twice a week to have dressings changed by healthcare staff working on site.
“I come in twice a week and get new dressings put on,” he said.
“There’s a dentist here, and a hairdresser comes in every now and then.”
But what started with meals and medical support slowly turned into stability.
After regularly coming in for food, staff asked if he wanted to start volunteering.
“They asked me if I wanted to volunteer, and I’ve been here since then,” he said.
That routine eventually developed into paid work through Just Clean, the Archer Project’s cleaning social enterprise, which helps people with lived experience of homelessness move towards employment.
“They helped me get a paid position, a couple of hours a week. It’s a bit of normality.”
“Structure is the main thing - that’s what I needed.”
The charity also helped him navigate housing applications and manage his finances as he tried to rebuild his life after prison and homelessness.
“They helped me out with the bidding process to get housed,” he said.
“It took me a long time, but I ended up getting a half-decent place because of it.
Without that support, Jonathan believes he would never have escaped the violence and exploitation surrounding his old life.
“I would still be working for them - or I’d be dead probably,” he said.
“I had petrol poured all over me and was threatened to be set alight. They tried to run me over.”
Now, the Sheffield homelessness charity that helped him rebuild his life is making a desperate £2 million plea to redevelop its ageing city centre base - warning its current building is no longer fit for the people relying on it to escape homelessness for good.
For more than 30 years, the Archer Project has supported thousands of vulnerable people from its Campo Lane centre beside Sheffield Cathedral, providing hot meals, showers, laundry facilities, healthcare and one-to-one support.
But staff say the building itself is now becoming part of the problem.
Inside, the centre is cramped, noisy and outdated. People arriving in acute crisis enter through the same crowded space used by volunteers, learners and those trying to stabilise their lives after homelessness.
The building has little privacy, limited quiet areas and outdated facilities.
Its shower block is ageing, the laundry room small and cluttered, while staff say trauma and tension can quickly spill through the packed communal areas.
Chief executive Tim Renshaw said the charity’s work has evolved far beyond emergency homelessness support, but the building has not.
“The building feels dated, but the reason for the rebuild is that we work with people hoping they will become post-homeless,” he said.
“That transition is really important.”
He said the current set-up often forces together people still surviving street homelessness with others beginning to rebuild routines, relationships and employment.
“If you’ve got people building a new life, and people still living a street life mixing together, that really slows down that work,” he said.
“Our new design is all about how we give really good space to people who have moved away from the street, started to build routines and new patterns, and how we help them build sustainable patterns for the future.”
The charity wants to redesign the centre around calmer, quieter recovery spaces - creating separate areas for education, wellbeing and employment support away from the intensity of the street environment.
At present, even the “quiet space” is too small to function properly.
“We want to create quiet spaces where people are not interrupted by what is going on on the street, where people who have issues with trauma in the past aren’t being triggered, so we can focus on what it is we can do positively today, tomorrow and so on.”
Walking through the centre, the pressure on the building is immediately obvious. The entrance funnels everyone through the same busy space towards the café.
Harsh stainless steel seating lines the room, furniture designed more to survive damage than to make people feel comfortable.
Staff say the layout can heighten tensions, with distressed people walking straight into already crowded communal areas.
Tim said the building was originally designed simply to “manage” homelessness.
“This current centre was designed to manage a homeless population, not to give experiences and opportunities to those who are experiencing homelessness,” he said.
“It is creating a centre geared towards people living good lives, not managing a really poor life.”
The Archer Project’s £2 million appeal has already secured backing from major Sheffield businesses including Sheffield Forgemasters and Honey.
But the charity says far more support is needed to create a building capable of helping people recover from homelessness long-term - not simply survive it.
Tim explained said that the centre is looking for any local businesses who would be able to help with the build to get involved - but also that anyone who can make a one off donation also does so.
“Come and hear the stories of people who have changed their lives, and know that you are investing in that new life and opportunity,” Tim said.