The Hive Charity Shop – AMAT UK has our very own charity shop, as often homeless adults will arrive with nothing but the clothes they stand up in. Although we provide them with an “instant living kit” we know that sometimes people need/ want more clothes/ shoes and personal items. The Hive charity shop offers affordable items for all our Residents and the public – what we choose to wear and the items we have in our homes are an extension of who we are as people. We want all our Residents to feel at home for the time that they are with us. Visit the shop at 350 High Street, Chatham.
IT Suite – The Hive has an IT suite where you can stay connected, job search, make benefit enquiries, improve Maths and English skills or drop in for a chat with our support staff. There is a printer and photocopier in the IT suite (free of charge to use) and free Wi-Fi access.
Laundry Room –Because Residents are allocated a room in a house there is not room for plumbing facilities to place a washing machine in each residence. AMAT UK has a laundry room where Residents can wash and dry clothes at a very low cost.
24 Hour Staff – Our staff are on call 24 hours a day. If needed residents can call a free phone number at any time and speak to a member of staff and access support or assistance.
Shower Room – the washing facilities at The Hive are available to anyone that is rough sleeping and may not have access to washing themselves elsewhere.
Café – Our café sells homemade, good food at low cost. It is a place to meet new people, meet up with friends or sit down with your support worker.
Partner Services
We know that the reasons for being homeless are complicated and come with many different reasons and issues. So that we can support people in the best possible way, we have teamed up with several partner agencies to ensure that homeless adults have the support and skills they need to address the issues of why they became homeless. AMAT UK can arrange fast track appointments and support you to attend.
Health-related:
- Forward Trust – substance misuse treatment including rapid assessment, one to one therapy and group sessions
- Nurse Practitioner– provides initial physical health diagnostics, blood tests and referral to medical appointments
- Mental Health Nurse – provides mental health appointments, including consultation and referral
- NHS Sexual Health Nurse – provide testing and follow up treatment for sexual health issues
- Hep C Trust – provide hepatitis C testing and treatment programmes.
- Medway Asthma Self-help group – MASH provide guidance to homeless individuals on asthma related conditions
- Rubicon Cares – counselling for victims of crime
Support for specialist issues:
- Medway Local Authority housing advisors – provide housing relating support for homeless adults.
- SATEDA – provide domestic abuse counselling and signposting to refuges and other agencies.
- Medway Adult Education – provide online courses, English and Maths sessions within The Hive.
- Desert Island Discs – talking therapy group session based around the soundtrack of our lives.
- ALIVE AND SINGING Choir – The Alive and Singing choir is a singing group that is made up of homeless individuals and staff. 98% of individuals that attend said that the choir was important to them, that it lifted their spirits, and helped them to manage their feelings.
- Kent Ahmadiyya Muslim Youth Association – run fantastic curry nights from The Hive.
- Resident Social Activities – Residents can join in with choir, bingo, quiz nights in a space that encourages forging positive relationships, whilst reducing anti-social behaviour.
- Medway Street Angels (MSA) – Helping the homeless & those in need across Kent & Medway.
