About Us 

What We Do

Turnaround Bristol is a charity and a centralised day centre of support and hope for all people facing homelessness.

We don't just help with immediate needs but sow seeds, help establish roots that build a brighter future, and help our guests break negative cycles for good.

We provide a wide range of services, practical help, and support to enable guests to increase well-being, stability and independence.  

Vision & Values 

Our vision is to see a city where people can live life to the full, in stable accommodation, and never to be homeless again.

We have a people-centred approach, seek to enable and empower voice and independence, and want to support people to reach their 'God-given potential'.

We recognise that to impact and change the lives of individuals, and the city landscape people are affected by, we need to evolve how we do things and partner with others to create pathways out of crisis. 

Turnaround Bristol is about Sanctuary, Empowerment and Life.

Our Services

The Turnaround Centre is within walking distance of the city centre.

Our building is close to several other community resources, such as sheltered housing, an ambulance station, and an adult education centre. 

The majority of our guests find us through word of mouth, street engagement and flyer-ing, and referrals from others (e.g. other day centres/partners, Bristol Homelessness Forum, SWEP / Severe Weather Emergency Protocol, Bristol City Council's Warm Spaces database, Caring in Bristol Handbook, etc).

A guest arriving at The Turnaround Centre for the first time can expect: 

• Hot food and drinks four days a week

• A clothing store

• Showers and a laundry service 

• Computer access

• Charging stations and internet 

• Lockers to safely store possessions 

• C/O Mail, where guests can use our address for job applications and banking

• Occasional health clinics

• 18 beds for emergency SWEP (severe weather) accommodation during periods when the City Council activates SWEP

• Dog kennels and a garden space where pets are welcome
  

By offering a wide range of services and lowering barriers to access, we want our guests to know that we are committed to walking alongside them as they build confidence and regain their footing.

Click here to see our Guest Services Page. 

How We Work

We support and empower our guests facing homelessness and housing insecurity to reclaim their dignity, build resilience, and secure stability. 

Each guest is unique, so our staff and volunteers befriend, care for, and work closely with our guests to assess their individual needs, tailor-make responses to address the underlying issues they face and give them tools to move out of crisis. 

Even if they face setbacks in life, we aim to equip them to seek and receive appropriate support and recover without slipping back into homelessness.

Guests are very much part of our approach, with some contributing back to the community through volunteering and peer support or helping to refine our services through our guest/trustee group.

About the ‘SETT’ Approach

Through continuous and centralised support, we aim to help reduce barriers, stigma and marginalisation and help transformation through our framework of three stages - we call this the SETT approach:

First, we SUSTAIN (S) our guests, working with them to meet their basic living needs. 

Secondly, we provide access and signposting to quality EDUCATION (E) and TRAINING (T), empowering them to learn skills for life. 

Finally, we build on these goals to help our guests THRIVE (T) as they move out of housing insecurity.

The SETT Approach focuses on producing longer-term sustainable change in people's lives.

Our Story

Methodist Central Hall’s Founding & Early Work

Established in the early 1900s in Bristol's Old Market, the Methodist Central Hall became a hub for faith and social justice. Reflecting Methodist values, it provided refuge amid economic hardship, wars, and industrial change, serving the working-class community with compassion and solidarity.

Expanding Homelessness Outreach

By the mid-20th century, the Hall focused on rising homelessness, offering food, shelter, and companionship. Over time, it formalised its efforts, partnering with charities to run a day centre. Despite the Hall's eventual decline, its mission continued through the Bristol Methodist Centre, founded in 1985.

Relocation & Modernisation

The Bristol Methodist Centre operated at 33 Midland Road from 1987 to 2015, serving as a vital support hub for people experiencing homelessness and as a continuation of the homelessness outreach work.

In November 2015, it relocated to Lincoln Street in Lawrence Hill, moving into the former URC Methodist church. This new location offered expanded facilities, including a larger day room, private meeting spaces, and amenities such as showers and laundry services, enabling us to enhance support services for the homeless community.

Our Faith

A Continuing Legacy

In 2024, Bristol Methodist Centre transitioned to Turnaround Bristol, a new charity building on the Methodist Church's century-long legacy of supporting vulnerable individuals.

Turnaround provides nourishment, friendship, and skills training for Bristol's homeless community. Though challenges persist, the commitment to dignity and resilience remains unwavering.

For more on the story and history of the Bristol Methodist movement's work in the city, watch the 100-year celebration video 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zb1ledDwPos

A Living Christian Faith of Social Justice

Motivated and informed by our Christian Faith and built on the foundations of 100 years of social action, we want to continue supporting people and advocate for systemic change. 

As we seek to do that, we are an organisation that is open to everyone, and our team consists of people from any religious and non-religious backgrounds.

For more information on how to volunteer, support or donate to us, please go to our Donate page.

Meet The Team

Our wider team consists of 7 paid staff at 2.8 FTE, and around 15 volunteers, though we are always on the look to recruit more volunteers as we expand (visit 'Getting Involved' for more information).  

As a person-centred organisation, every person matters and contributes to our community. 

Every two months, we meet as a whole team with our Trustees to share ideas, celebrate successes, and collaboratively seek to improve our work.

Meet our team below!

Staff Team  

Ross Jeffery – Centre Manager

Chris Keegan – Assistant Manager

Paul Buck – Chef

Mark Luxton – Assistant Chef

Tina Coles – Support Worker

Elaine Reilly – Support Worker

Barbara Stezycka – Support Worker & Administrator 

Robin Schaefer – Cover Support Worker

Our Volunteers

We are blessed to have a great team of volunteers from a variety of walks of life, and stages of life. It isn’t always easy to tell who is a staff member and who is a volunteer because the team blends together so well.  Our volunteers help in the kitchen, dayroom, stockroom, laundry, computer room and garden, focusing on looking after the needs of guests in a warm and friendly manner.

[link to join the volunteer team?]

John Blake

Ruth King

Robert Walters

Bruce Kent

Renee Reilly 

Thomas Miller

Anthony Powell

Kevin Brennan

Jonathan Greenwood

Jane Leslie

Cassy Boate (Student Volunteer)

Hannah Baxter

Our Trustees

Our Trustees help Turnaround Bristol maintain vision and purpose

Andrew Street (Chair)

In parallel with a successful career as an environmental consultant as Founding Director of SLR Consulting, in recent years he has increasingly become involved in charity work and social enterprise / investment in Bristol, and also actively supporting social investment in the developing world. 

He Chairs FareShare South-West, Sixty-One and Bristol Charities, and is former Chair of InHope (a leading homelessness charity in Bristol); he also leads of a number of other partnership or community-based initiatives focusing on a collaborative approach to city transformation.

Andrew is an active member of Woodlands Church in Bristol, and passionate about putting his faith into action. 

Simon Allen

Simon has worked in housing for over 30 years. This includes managing an 18-bed night shelter in Bedford and starting a housing project in London with 6 houses providing support for 28 residents. He is the chair of Bristol Homeless Forum. 

Employed by City Church Bristol, Simon is a pastor for the Bradley Stoke congregation and is responsible for developing social action in the church with a plan to start a house for homeless people.

Simon is married to Rebekah and they have 4 adult children.  He loves cycling, supports Aston Villa and is co-event director for a parkrun in Bradley Stoke.  

Marcus Baxter

Marcus brings a diverse background in aerospace, defence, and engineering to his role as trustee. Starting his career at British Aerospace, he progressed through various technical roles at Airbus UK and now serves at Rolls-Royce, managing international defence procurement.

A former Armed Forces serviceman and film director, Marcus also pastors a church in Bristol alongside his wife, focusing on biblical teaching, outreach and pastoral care, to disciple and equip others for the work of service.

He’s trained in Pastoral Care and Biblical Leadership and is active in evangelism and citywide ministry partnerships. He’s passionate about serving the vulnerable, fostering Christian community, and brings strong operational, pastoral, and leadership experience to support the charity’s mission.

John Hayes

John is a Methodist minister based in Keynsham and has been privileged to serve in some of the areas of the UK with the greatest needs, most notably working with Whitechapel Mission in London.

John also brings wide experience of strategic, operational and practical work from manufacturing, printing and education.

John is supporting the work of Turnaround Bristol specifically with: a passion for this Kingdom work; the ability to sit with people and share; strategic planning and developing vision; experience of significant building projects; organisational financial planning and practical HR support.

Olutomi Osibanjo

Olutomi, a fellow of both the Association of Corporate Treasurers and the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, has over 30 years cross functional finance experience across Management Consulting, Treasury, Finance and Accounting and Systems Audit working for FTSE250 and global companies including, Accenture, Imperial Tobacco Plc, Unilever International Audit, Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling, National Express Group plc amongst others.  He alongside his wife have pastored a thriving church in Bristol for the past 15 years, with emphasis on the word and worship and preparing the people for the coming of Jesus.

Naomi Sharp

Naomi comes to Turnaround having worked with the management team of the former Bristol Methodist Centre, and has played a key role in the Centre’s transition. 

Her background is in overseas mission, firstly with OMF International in Cambodia, and then as a mission trainer with BMS World Mission. 

Naomi is now a church and community worker in the Methodist Church across Downend, Winterbourne and Yate.

Partnerships

Partner with Us

Whether you work in a similar field, might be a potential corporate sponsor, or a trader with practical skills, we would love to hear how we can work together.

LOGOS 

Rather than separate things too much (e.g. section for corporate, section for other agencies, etc), I suggest putting them all in one place. 

Partnership logos are about validation, so visually, this creates a more significant impact and solves the issue of only having a few logos here or there.

It also gives a sense of a 'united front'

• Bristol City Council

• Bristol Homeless Forum

• Fareshare Southwest

• Glastonbury 

• Mentor Me / Sixty-One

• Rolls Royce

• St Mungos

• Salvation Army Citadel 

• SWEP Partner 
  MIMOMU

• ARA

• INHOPE

• STANDING TALL

• POHWER

Calvary Chaplaincy. Can I have more information on this?

One-Stop Shop (Tues 10 am – 3 pm)

Our One-Stop Shop is a new initiative supported by the Bristol City Council Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy that provides access to housing, health, benefits and employment support. 

It is part of a move towards providing all the services our guests' need in one location. In cases where we are unable to meet our guests' needs directly, we signpost them to other services for more direct help with issues such as addiction, domestic violence or mental health, where they can receive the best support possible. 

We can also provide communal and private spaces for our partners to come into the centre and speak to our guests. 

We currently work with the following partners, although we are looking to expand this provision: 

• Sirona Health: supports guests experiencing homelessness and challenges with their health needs. They triage guests and can direct them for referrals or immediate support.

• Private Renting Team: offers support and advice for people accessing private accommodation

• WRAMAS - Welfare Rights and Money Advice Service: provide support around benefits and welfare advice, including Universal Credit, ESA, Housing Benefits, PIP, and application support

• Move In, Move On, Move Up: one-to-one support for training, volunteering and employment.

• The Homeless Health Team (NHS): provides vaccinations to our guests and has run a successful liver health programme which saw excellent uptake at our centre 

• St Mungo's: provide one-to-one support to those suffering from homelessness across the city with designated support workers and assess applications for SWEP support

• POhWER: provides advocacy services for our guests in meetings, doctor's appointments, and housing where they cannot voice their needs.

• ARA work with women who are suffering from addiction / housing issues

For more or to be part of Our One-Stop Shop, please get in touch with Ross, our Centre Manager, at manager@turnaround.org.uk.

Turnaround Centre as a Hub (throughout the week)

Hosting other support services in our centre is key to how Turnaround Bristol wants to work and serve the city. 

Many of our guests prefer to meet different partner providers in a familiar place, where they feel safe or somewhere that involves less travel. That comfort and security often creates better engagement and leads to better outcomes for all. 

We can offer the Turnaround Centre as a hub for other organisations to bring their services directly to our guests. 

Currently, we serve as a hub for

• St Mungo's, BDP (Bristol Drugs Project), 

• Homeless Health Team, 

• UWE (University of the West of England)

• NHS Paramedics and the Probation Service

• Citadel Project

If you are an existing support service or organisation, or if you would like to explore working together, please get in touch with Ross, our Centre Manager, at manager@turnaround.org.uk.

Hiring & use of the Building)

We recognise that many aspects help build and nurture community, so looking at immediate needs alongside broader societal issues is helpful.

We would love to hear from you if you are a like-minded agency or organisation that might want to use our space. Contact Ross, our Centre Manager, at manager@turnaround.org.uk.

Getting Involved 

Many individuals and organisations support Turnaround Bristol.

Without their help and support of our 'Turnaround Heroes', we couldn't do our work and, more importantly, support the people we do. 

Here are some ways many people get involved and help and support us. 

Volunteer with Us 

We provide friendship and emotional support, helping our guests build confidence, resilience, and a sense of belonging, so we depend on volunteers to help change people's lives. 

We have found that volunteers' lives have changed through volunteering. 

Our broad team consists of people from different faiths and backgrounds, and everyone respects Turnaround's mission, Christian ethos, and ways of working. It is not a requirement for staff or volunteers to be Christians. However, volunteers should be aware of the Christian basis of the organisation. 

We accept university and work experience placements, but because of the nature of our work, applicants must be over 18.

If you'd like to know more about our volunteering onboarding process, please get in touch with Ross our Centre Manager, at manager@turnaround.org.uk.

Urgent Needs & Donations

As needs change and as we engage with our guests, we will update our current wish-list for items here. 

You can also make donations using our Amazon Wishlist (include a link)

We are currently only accepting:

• Warm, waterproof coats/Parka coats

• Jumpers/hoodies

• Black leggings

• Black knickers and socks (must be new)

• Jeans

• Joggings bottoms

• T-shirt/Vest tops/Long sleeve tops

• Gloves

• Hats

• Flat-soled shoes and boots (no high heels)

• Trainers

Please check with us by emailing manager@turnaround.org.uk or calling us on 0117 9555606 before donating items to Turnaround (items requested may have already been donated, and we have limited storage space).

Newsletter

Once a quarter, Ross (our centre manager) sends out his 'Life at Turnaround' update. 

Inside it are the latest changes, challenges, and achievements at Turnaround Bristol, as well as updates on our building development plans and how you can get support and stories from our guests.

Just click the link below, and our sign-up form will pop up in a new window.

(insert link/button)

Donate

Supporting Us Financially

It costs about £190,000 per year to keep Turnaround Bristol doing the great work it does, and we are seeking to develop the work significantly over the next few years.

Please consider making a donation towards our mission today. Thank you!

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