Hope has been serving the community of Northampton for 46 years, since early beginnings feeding homeless people. In that time we have evolved into a much wider charity, with a range of services for a much wider range of community members.

Our main focus is tackling poverty through services and campaigning, especially since the impact of covid-19 has increased unemployment and poverty; and also changed the shape of homelessness, with many former rough sleepers now housed, although others remain on the street, and others are sadly joining them.

Services for homeless people are still a huge part of what we do, and we offer help through our day services and linked training and casework services to manage the impact of homelessness and help people move on.

But we also help people with other needs: isolation, loneliness, addictions, mental health problems, abuse, trauma, as well as people who have none of these problems, but are just short of money. The linking theme is poverty, and poverty is central to our mission.

We recognise that structural racism underpins poverty and it’s disproportionate impact on ethnic minorities: for this reason we have a strong commitment to anti-racist practice and welcome people of all communities. Read about our work HERE

We are also a community charity run by, funded by and accountable to the people of our area: close to 100 community volunteers, plus company and business support, support from churches, schools, community groups, groups of friends and students. Between them they keep us running, with donations of time, clothes, food and of course money. Hope is 98% funded entirely by charitable donations.

People give because they believe in what Hope does and what we stand for: compassion, care without limits, regard, anger about the scandal of poverty and willingness to keep on supporting the most vulnerable until we are no longer needed.