About Launchpad

Established in 1979, Launchpad started as a humble soup kitchen, set up by University of Reading students. Since then, the charity has grown considerably and now offers a holistic approach to preventing homelessness across Reading. Last year Launchpad provided support, advice, and housing to over 1,800 people who were homeless or at were at risk of losing their homes. Our work focuses on 4 key areas:

Drop-In

Launchpad offer free, confidential advice at out drop-in clinic, which runs every Monday, Wednesday and Friday between the hours of 10am and 2pm. There’s no referral needed; anyone can come along to these sessions which are held in our central-Reading offices.

Floating Support

Sometimes people need more help to overcome a serious housing-related challenge. Launchpad’s floating support service works with individuals, couples and families to address the root of their housing problems so they are able to obtain and sustain a long-term home and lead full and independent lives. Launchpad provide tailored support for periods of three to six months for people who have special educational needs or disabilities, are victims of domestic abuse or are leaving care or prison, and people who are struggling with issues such as addiction, debt management, poor mental health and numeracy and literacy.

Supported Housing

Launchpad provide and maintain temporary accommodation across Reading for over 100 people. As well as providing homes we provide targeted support to get our clients’ lives back on track.

Our supported housing is offered for six to twelve months, and, during this time, each client works through a personalised support plan with a supported housing officer. The work we do aims to tackle the issues that are holding them back, so they can obtain and sustain more permanent housing, and live independently.

A stable, clean and safe home makes it far easier to provide regular and effective support. This allows the charity to focus on issues such as mental health problems and substance misuse, or to break the cycle of re-offending. For Launchpad clients, housing with support is a lifeline and the day they move into one of our properties can often be a turning point for them.

135 Life and Work Skills Centre

This is where Launchpad offer work and life skills training. The centre is open to members of the public as well to people who are using Launchpad’s services.

We offer a wide range of classes and training sessions. These include practical skills such as cooking, DIY, IT and interview skills. As well as soft skills such as building confidence, resilience, teamwork and communication.

Our goal for all classes is the same – to help people to live positive, independent lives.

How our involvement with the CEO Sleepout will support these services

Increase in demand for our services has increased by 22% year on year with over 1,800 people helped last year – the support we receive from the CEO Sleepout will be vital in helping us meet this increase in demand.