Got a Few Spare Hours? BENS Night Shelter Needs Volunteers
Winter in Basildon is brutal if you have nowhere to go. From December through March, Basildon Emergency Night Shelters (BENS) operates across local church halls to make sure people sleeping rough have a warm bed, a hot refreshments, and a safe place to get their heads down.
We don’t have a massive budget or a huge team of paid staff. The shelter runs because local people show up and get stuck in. Right now, we are putting together the rota for the upcoming season, and we need more pairs of hands.
What’s Involved?
You don’t need special qualifications—just common sense, reliability, and the ability to treat people with respect. You’ll always be working as part of a team alongside experienced volunteers.
We break the work down into four main shifts:
Evening Shift: Setting up camp beds, making brews, and chatting with guests (or leaving them in peace if they’re exhausted).
Overnight Shift: Staying awake in pairs to keep the venue secure so guests can actually get a proper night’s sleep without worrying about their safety or their belongings.
Morning Shift: Serving breakfast, packing up the beds, sweeping the hall, and getting the church ready for its normal daytime use.
What kind of commitment is it?
As much or as little as you can genuinely manage. Some volunteers do the same evening every week; others just cover a couple of shifts a month when they have a free weekend. Even picking up two or three shifts over the winter takes huge pressure off the core team.
It’s practical, straightforward work. You aren’t expected to fix anyone’s life overnight – just make sure they are warm, fed, and treated like a human being for a few hours.
How to Sign Up
If you’ve got a couple of hours to spare this winter, we’d love to have you on the rota.
Email us: shelterlinks18@gmail.com
Drop us a message with your availability, and we’ll get back to you with shift details and a quick rundown of how everything works.
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