Marsha Phoenix Memorial Trust
Empowering young homeless women
Marsha Phoenix Memorial Trust is a supported housing project, which provides hostel accommodation for young women. We operate in the borough of Lewisham and have our main hostel in Brockley, and our two second-stage shared flats in New Cross. We have 27 bed spaces altogether.
Our mission is to empower young women to realise their fullest potential, fostering a community where their voices are valued, their ambitions supported, and their unique strengths celebrated. We are dedicated to providing opportunities for growth, education, and leadership, enabling young women to navigate the world with confidence, purpose, and resilience. By investing in their future, we aim to build a more inclusive and equitable society where young women lead with courage and inspire others. Read our mission statement here to find out more.
We house young women aged 16 to 21 in one hostel, and 18 to 21 in our second stage hostel.
Referrals are generally made to us via the London Borough of Lewisham Prevention, Inclusion and Public Health Commissioning (PIPHC)/Supported Housing Pathways. All applicants are interviewed prior to acceptance. We operate a waiting list for vacancies.
We may not take anyone with a history of violence, a serious active drink or drug problem, severe mental health issues or people who have been involved in arson. However we consider every case on its merits, the primary concern being the security and safety of all.
The service we offer is accommodation with support. This means each resident has an allocated worker who will work with them to deal with any of the problems they may have encountered and to help them to build the skills and confidence needed to move on to live more independently. This ranges from counselling to education support, from help with accessing benefits to advice over personal issues and relationships.
We expect all residents to use this service and to have some level of support needs.
We also run an in-house education project. Our tutors who visit in the evenings help our residents in finding out about a range of subjects including health and well-being, exam preparation, arts and crafts, self development, healthy eating, money management, and more.
We offer a resettlement service for when people are ready to move on. We aim for people to move on within a maximum period of two years.
Our Tressillian Road main hostel is two Edwardian houses converted into one large property. There are 21 bedrooms. There is a shared kitchen, laundry, several shared bathrooms, WCs, a lounge, a dining room, and garden. We provide all furniture, bedding, crockery, and cutlery, as well as kitchen and laundry equipment. The Tressillian Road hostel is staffed 24 hours a day and we operate a nighttime curfew. We expect residents to be present at the hostel at least five nights per week.
Our Erlanger Road residence is made up of two self-contained flats. The kitchen and bathrooms are shared. There is a large shared garden. A part-time project manager staffs this second-stage hostel. She visits the project regularly and meets with the residents for support planning sessions. The property is owned by London and Quadrant Supported Living.
We respect our residents’ rights to privacy, confidentiality, safety, and respect
We expect our residents to take responsibility for paying their rent, for their health and safety, personal conduct and respect for others.