About 1625 Independent People

1625 Independent People (Independent People) was created in August 2009 by merging Priority Youth Housing and Wayahead Housing and Support for Young People.

Independent People is a strong, well-managed voluntary organisation which is strategically relevant and at the forefront of support provision for young homeless people in Bristol and South Gloucestershire.

Our Mission 

Our Mission statement is an explanation of why we exist and is what drives us to come to work everyday:

To improve the housing and support services for young people in the Bristol and South Gloucestershire area and to raise awareness of their needs.
Keeping respect, understanding, participation and equality central to our delivery of high quality and strategically relevant services.

Read our Mission statement page to find out more about how we are achieving our mission.

A bit of our history

Independent People is a merger of Priority Youth Housing and Wayahead Housing and Support for Young People. Wayahead was established in 1982 (then known as East Bristol Youth Housing) and Priority in 1989 (then known as South Bristol Youth Housing).

Where we work

We currently work in Bristol and South Gloucestershire.  

Services we provide:

• Housing in shared and self-contained dwellings in Bristol and South Gloucestershire
• Housing support to young people living in the housing we provide or in tenancies managed by another agency or individual.
• Housing support to young people living in bed & breakfast and other temporary accommodation
• 24 staffed emergency accommodation and support
• Housing related prison support work in partnership with Fairbridge and Bristol Credit Union
• Housing advice to young people seeking assistance with housing.
• Training, Education and Employment Services (TEE Services) including the Connexions Personal Adviser Service. 
• Leaving Care Personal Advisor and support service
• A range of group activities of interest and of use to the young people we support

Who funds us

Independent People is an Industrial & Provident Society (no.23964R) – in other words we’re a non-profit making charity. We are always actively looking for new funding.
We are currently funded by Supporting People and Children & Young Peoples Services (CYPS) in Bristol and South Gloucester, Connexions in South Gloucestershire and Lankelly Chase and Tudor Trust in Bristol. 

Who we work with

Independent People has developed strong links in Bristol and South Gloucestershire with statutory agencies and other voluntary agencies including the infrastructure agencies for the voluntary sector.  
We are a member of the National Housing Federation, Homeless Link, and the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO). 

We like to keep active! We believe in sharing knowledge and learning from our peers and colleagues and are active members of:

• Bristol Supported Housing Forum (Steering Group member),
• Bristol Youth Homelessness Group (Chair)
• 16+ Housing Panel (Vice Chair)
• South Gloucestershire Supporting People Providers’ Forum (Steering Group member)
• Homes4Bristol (Executive Board) 
• Rough Sleepers Initiative Group
• Meaningful Occupation Group
• Hostels Review Group
• Care Forum
• VOSCUR
• Prevention and Early Intervention Workstream
• BiTC Community Impact Leadership Team
• South Gloucestershire Youth Housing Partnership
• South Gloucestershire Supporting People Core Strategy Development Group
• Teenage Pregnancy Board
• Post 16 Steering Group
• 11-19 Strategy Group
• South Gloucestershire Housing Strategy Review Group
• Homelessness Strategy Group
• Care Leavers Development Group
• Safer South Gloucestershire’s Young People’s Sub Group
• and Severnvale Locality Planning Group.

Some facts and figures about us (based on 2008/09)…

• We have 15 Board members
• We employ 74 staff
• We have five offices.
• We manage 245 units of accommodation  
• 123 young people get floating support from us
• 12 young people receive a Connexions PA service in South Gloucestershire
• 4-5 people receive a Care Leaving PA service in South Gloucestershire
• 12 young people receive support from the Inside Out prison worker with a target of 60 per annum

You can find all our telephones and addresses on our Contact details page.