What is it?
Bishopbridge House is the main direct access hostel for people in Norwich who are homeless. It replaced the Oak Street Night Shelter in 2002. The hostel’s main purpose is to provide emergency, temporary accommodation with support for people who are homeless. But Bishopbridge House is more than a temporary home, it is a base from which you can build your future.
In the hostel there are friendly and experienced staff available 24/7 who are there to support and assist you as you move towards finding a new, more permanent home.
Along the way you may find that you need some additional support before you feel ready to take on your new home. At Bishopbridge House we work closely with a number of agencies who provide specialist support that may be helpful to you, Including primary health care or drug and alcohol treatment and recovery services.
In addition we will introduce you to a range of opportunities to learn or develop new skills, volunteer or share your experience to help others.
Applying for a vacancy at Bishopbridge House
If a person wants to be considered for a vacancy in the hostel, they will be asked to speak to a member of the outreach team who will be able to offer them advice about their housing options which will be based on the information shared with them. There may be alternatives to the direct access hostel that are better suited to meet a person’s needs. The outreach team will support them with referrals to any housing providers that are available to them.
Bishopbridge House receives a high volume of vacancy enquiries compared to the number of available beds at any time. As a result, it is frequently necessary for us to make decisions regarding the relative priority and vulnerability of a number of applicants for any available vacancy.
If a person does not get a room immediately, they are asked to keep in touch, as on average we have a room become available every other day.
