Residents help improve Guernsey's homeless shelter

Two residents at Guernsey's only homeless shelter have been working to improve the facility.

Virgilio Henriques and Pierre le Prevost have lived at St Julian's House for the last two and a half years.

Mr Henriques said he wanted to help make it somewhere people could be "proud" of staying, after the staff "saved his life".

His ultimate goal for St Julian's gardens is to open them to the public.

"I want it to be open for locals for tourists, and we'll have a donation box to help improve St Julian's," he said.

"It's a beautiful garden like Candie nextdoor."

Two and a half years ago Mr Henriques came to St Julian's House after a divorce which left him with serious mental health problems.

Staff who have known him during that time said he had come on "leaps and bounds" and a year ago would not have been able to do an interview.

He said he wanted to find a house locally for him and his 10-year old son to live in.

"Guernsey is quite expensive though, but for now this place feels more like home," he said.

Working together on tasks such as painting walls, clearing ivy from the greenhouse and tidying the garden has led the two men to become close friends.

"I can't believe that now he's one of my best friends, Pierre was depressed when he first moved in and we've helped each other through doing this work," said Mr Henriques.

Mr Le Prevost came to St Julian's around the same time as Mr Henriques but staff said he "kept himself to himself".

He said if it was not for the shelter he would be "sleeping on a park bench".

"If someone is coming in, in crisis, the last place you want to go to is somewhere run down and forgotten about," he said.

"We want to change the stigma around this, there is a lot of stigma about this place.

"Some people don't know it even exists if they need help."

Politicians have acknowledged Guernsey is in the midst of a housing crisis and for Mr Le Prevost it means he has struggled to find a way out of St Julian's.

"Finding a house is very difficult, I'm on the housing list, many other people here are in a similar position," he said.

"We're in a crisis when it comes to housing, most of the residents here have been here for two years as there's not a lot moving around at the moment."

Former mental health support worker Scott Jeffery is the new team manager of St Julian's House and said the work the two men had done alongside other residents made him "really happy".

"They want to make it a safer place, with pride in where they are staying and it has given them pride and structure," he said.

"You can see a difference in the way they act."

Two States of Guernsey committees, Employment and Social Security and Environment and Infrastructure have been working on a definition of homelessness for Guernsey.

They are also working to quantify the scale of the problem in Guernsey and to develop proposals to support those who are homeless or at risk of homelessness.

States Property Unit has idenitifed problems with St Julian's House's roof caused by water ingress.

It said: "Scaffold has been erected following some water ingress and this will allow surveyors to carry out a detailed roof survey to assess the scope of any roofing replacement."

Mr Jeffery said the facility was in need of improvement.

He said: "It needs a bit of work done to it, you can see that.

"But to see the guys actually taking a lead on improving it to make it somewhere they can be proud of is an amazing feeling.

"I wish we could do more for them but there are always budget issues."

While the building is maintained by the States Property Unit, the gardens are looked after by States Works.

A spokesperson said there was "a Service Level Agreement with St Julian’s House for the maintenance of the hardstanding, lawns and plants".

"Residents occasionally choose to do some of the work themselves and we are encouraged not to interfere with these works by the management of the property,” it added.

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