LONDON, 21 July 2026 – Providence Row, the specialist East London and the City homelessness charity, has won a 2026 London Homelessness Award for its outreach psychotherapy service, ‘A Place Within’. The Awards, sponsored by the London Homelessness Foundation, the London Housing Directors' Group, the Mayor of London, Crisis, and Shelter, recognise the ingenuity and determination of those working to end homelessness across the capital.

Providence Row was shortlisted alongside Cambridge House — Safer Renting, Centrepoint — Independent Living Programme, London Borough of Hackney — The Hackney Edge Advice Drop-in Hub, Settle — The Settle Programme, and The People's Recovery Project — organisations whose work reflects the depth and breadth of the response to homelessness across London.

Established in 2018, ‘A Place Within’ was built on a simple but profound question: what if the people who most need mental health support are the ones least able to walk through a clinic door? People experiencing homelessness often carry severe and complex trauma accumulated over lifetimes, trauma so deep that conventional mental health services, with their complex referral pathways and clinical settings, cannot reach them. ‘A Place Within’ works differently. Therapists offer support to people wherever they are located, at a sleep site, in a hostel, in a park, sometimes simply sitting together on a doorstep, building the kind of sustained, trusting relationship that many clients have never previously experienced. The service, which began in Tower Hamlets, now operates across five London boroughs: Tower Hamlets, the City of London, Hackney, Redbridge, and Newham.

An independent evaluation published this year confirmed what the service has demonstrated over eight years: that this approach works, and that its significance extends well beyond East London. Over 300 clients were supported last year, with seventy-three percent either maintaining or moving into accommodation, and 85% were not seen rough sleeping following the end of their support.

Providence Row has identified a number of ways to extend the reach of ‘A Place Within’ to more rough sleepers who need it. The most urgent is the expansion of the service's specialist women's programme. Women experiencing homelessness are among the hardest to reach, their homelessness is frequently hidden, their paths into it shaped by violence, exploitation, and trauma. The award prize, alongside funding committed by the Julia Rausing Trust, will help make that expansion a reality. Further support is needed to fully realise it.

Nigel Williams, Chief Executive of Providence Row, said: "This recognition means a great deal to everyone at Providence Row, to our therapists, our partners, and to all those who have supported ‘A Place Within’ over the past eight years. The independent evaluation has given us powerful evidence of what this service achieves for people who have too often been failed by the rigid support made available to them. We know there is more we can do and more people we can reach. We are grateful to the London Homelessness Foundation and all the sponsors of these Awards, and we look forward to the conversations that this recognition will open."

Simon Dow chaired the judging panel. He said: “We were delighted with the huge range of achievements showcased by the six projects on the shortlist, and as always, it was difficult to decide on the prize winners. Each project made a presentation to the judging panel, and all were powerful - a real reminder of the vibrancy of the homelessness sector in London.”

Providence Row congratulates all shortlisted organisations and thanks the London Homelessness Foundation, the awards panel, and all sponsors for their commitment to shining a light on this vital work.