About Us

We meet people where they are and support them towards where they want to be.

Our organisation was created in 1968 by a group of students angry and disillusioned at the way people experiencing homelessness were treated. They developed a residential community model where volunteers live alongside those who had been street homeless; reflecting the newly formed Cyrenians movement which had grown out of the Simon Communities approach.  

It was at this community that our values-led approach was developed, which remains at the heart of our working ethos today.

We have come a long way from those humble beginnings, with over 63 services all working towards our vision of an inclusive society in which we all have the opportunity to live valued and fulfilling lives. 

Our mission

To tackle the causes and consequences of homelessness through learning from lived experience; by delivering targeted services which focus on prevention, early intervention and support into a home; and by influencing changes in legislation and policy.

A public health approach to homelessness prevention

At Cyrenians we take a public health approach to homelessness prevention.  We know homelessness impacts on the health of the nation, on the outcomes of our young people, on the life expectancies of people living in dangerous, lonely and precarious circumstances. A public health approach strives to stop people becoming homeless by addressing risk factors and offering support at the earliest opportunity rather than waiting until a crisis happens. It seeks to move away from addressing a lack of accommodation without addressing the underlying reasons why people have become homeless in the first place, such as poverty and trauma.

Addressing homelessness effectively requires population level prevention, as well as individual level interventions with services and sectors working together.

Our Strategic Plan 2024-2027

Cyrenians Strategic Plan 2024-2027 is accompanied in each year by an annual action plan that will track and measure outcomes against our four key priorities:

• Preventing homelessness using a public health approach
• Responding to evidence-based need with services we are best placed to provide
• Delivering whole person, whole family and whole community interventions
• Being an organisation which nurtures its people and is financially and environmentally sustainable.

Read our Strategic Plan 2024-2027 here (PDF)

Our values

Our way of working is built around our four values:

• Compassion: We believe that everyone should have the chance to change, no matter how long that might take.
• Respect: We believe in tolerance, acceptance, valuing diversity and treating each other as equals.
• Integrity: We are committed to the highest quality of work, grounded in honesty, generosity, sincerity and professionalism.
• Innovation: We are willing to take risks, challenge convention and be creative in our search for new ways of working, in particular by taking account of the environmental impact of our decisions.

Our person-centred work is always evolving; reflecting and supporting the changes we see within the community on both a local and national scale. We are proud of what we have achieved over the last 50+ years and are incredibly grateful for every individual, business and organisation that has joined us in our journey.

If you’d like to find out more visit "how we help" to read about our different projects.