About us
Our work
A safe home, better life and fairer future for everyone.
We were founded to help people facing the devastating effects of homelessness.
Today, we also tackle the causes and consequences of poverty and inequality.
The challenges we’ve faced during 2023 have meant we’ve needed to be flexible but we’ve remained focused on delivering our ambitions.
Following funding cuts, a key focus has been rebuilding homelessness services in Kent. We’re taking a housing-led approach, providing the intensive support it takes for people to move into their own home as soon as possible.
As the cost of living crisis intensifies, we’re seeing widening mental health inequalities. We’re working with NHS, public health and local government partners to provide joined-up health and social care support where it’s needed most.
Young people are particularly at risk of not getting the help they need. We’re expanding our support for this vulnerable group to stop any mental health problems following them into later life.
And we’re working throughout Kent to help people before their problems reach crisis point. Our Porchlight Open Door meet-ups are based in Kent’s most deprived communities. They connect the hardest to reach, most vulnerable people with the help they need to build healthy, independent lives.
It’s not just the people we support that are feeling the strain during these difficult times. We provided our staff with a £1,000 one-off payment to help them manage the cost of living crisis. We’re also training more mental health first aiders, and we’re signposting people to support for their mental health and wellbeing.
We’re committed to providing a supportive environment where individual differences and contributions are valued and everyone is treated with dignity and respect. We’ve implemented an equality, diversity and inclusion strategy to continue this work.
Porchlight is a respected and resilient organisation, committed to our clients and firmly rooted in our communities. As CEO, you will be a champion for Porchlight and our clients, ensuring the needs of our clients are understood inside Porchlight and by key stakeholders. You will help us secure the resources needed to provide high-quality, tailored support – continuing our impact into the future.
We have ambitious plans for the organisation including the development of our new strategy.
Our strategic objectives:
- Support and services are fairer at a whole system level.
- People can access the support that’s right for them, when it matters most.
- People are empowered to recover and make lasting change.
Our enabling objectives provide the foundation to deliver our strategy:
- Strive for excellence in our services, people and systems.
- Provide a foundation of sustainable income and support.
We’re here for people who have nowhere to go and no-one to turn to.
We work across Kent to support people facing poverty, social exclusion, mental ill health and homelessness.
We’re here when it matters most.
Everybody deserves to have someone on their side when life gets tough.
We draw on decades of experience to help people facing poverty, and inequality in health and housing.
We offer safety, stability and respect.
When someone needs help, they may be facing lots of different issues.
We create a safety net so everyone can find the support that’s right for them.
We empower people to live the life they want.
Empowering people so they can thrive takes care, compassion and understanding.
We 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.
The number of people we've helped who were at risk of losing their home
%
Around 64% of the people supported by our community mental health service lived in the county's most deprived areas
The number of people we've supported living with a serious mental illness
Our people
Porchlight’s staff and volunteers are our biggest strength. They drive our core values; working with trust, compassion, collaboration, and courage – for a safe home, better life and fairer future for everyone.
