Porchlight
Porchlight is a Kent-based charity working in mental health and homelessness across Kent and the London Borough of Bexley. They deliver homelessness outreach support for people who are experiencing rough sleeping and have a number of supported accommodation units, predominantly in East Kent. They also deliver community mental health and wellbeing support as part of the Live Well Kent and Medway programme delivered in partnership with Kent County Council, Medway Council, Kent Public Health, the NHS, and a wide range of local delivery partners such as South Kent Mind.
Porchlight’s vision
A safe home, better life and fairer future for everyone.
They were founded over 50 years ago, in 1974, to help people facing the devastating effects of homelessness. Today, they also tackle the causes and consequences of poverty and inequality.
Originally known as National Cyrenians, and locally as Canterbury Cyrenians, Porchlight drew inspiration from the ground-breaking model of the Simon Community, pioneered by former probation officer Anton Wallich-Clifford in 1963.
The Simon Community was the genesis of many of the homelessness charities that we know today.
Porchlight’s mission:
Here for people when it matters most.
Everybody deserves to have someone on their side when life gets tough.
They draw on decades of experience to help people facing poverty, and inequality in health and housing.
Offer safety, stability and respect.
When someone needs help, they may be facing lots of different issues.
Porchlight create a safety net so everyone can find the support that’s right for them.
Empower people to live the life they want.
Empowering people so they can thrive takes care, compassion and understanding.
Porchlight help people see their strengths and connect with others to build the future they want.
Together, we fight for lasting change.
Poverty, health and housing injustice are complex problems affecting millions of lives. They are also avoidable.
Porchlight work to improve understanding of the issues and find sustainable solutions to rebalance an unfair system.
Strategy and objectives
Porchlight launched their new strategy in April 2024 to help focus on three key areas:
- People access a better and fairer system of support
- People find the support that’s right for them when it matters most
- People are empowered to live the life they want and make lasting change