Overview

1 StoneHill Road, Chiswick W4 3AH

Phone: 020 8996 0425

 

The facilities we provide        How we manage the scheme        Scheme activities        How we involve and listen to residents     

 

Resident View

 

 

Our Forbes House hostel in Chiswick provides temporary accommodation and low-level support for homeless adults aged 18-55. It is an attractive modern building with three floors.

 

We take referrals for the 22 self-contained studio flats from Hounslow Council. New residents are given tenancies of up to two years and remain with us until they are ready to move on to a fully independent tenancy through the Locata choice-based lettings scheme.

 

Residents value their self-contained flats and the advice and support available at the scheme.

 

 

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The facilities we provide

Each resident has their own furnished studio flat.

Communal facilities include:

• a lounge with a TV – available when staff are on site
• a laundry
• a back garden
• very limited parking.

 

We employ cleaners and gardeners to service the shared areas. Residents also have access to our centralised repairs service.

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How we manage the scheme

Vivienne Marsh is the Service Manager for our Ealing and Hounslow supported housing schemes. A housing professional with 20 years’ experience of working with vulnerable resident groups, her role is to oversee the running of each scheme and to manage a floating team of supported housing officers.

Ronald Ogunwobi has been the Supported Housing Officer for Forbes House for the past four years. He spent the previous three years as a support manager with West London YMCA.

Ronald’s role is to keep the hostel running efficiently and to handle housing management problems. He also offers low-level support to assist residents to maintain their tenancies and prepare for independent living. Occasionally, this support may need to be a little more intensive.

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Scheme activities

Forbes House residents generally move on quickly – some after just six months with us.

During their time at the scheme, we offer activities such as:

• coffee mornings
• budgeting sessions – either one-to-one or in workshops
• arts & crafts sessions
• food hygiene workshops
• outings, for example to the coast or Gunnersbury Park.

 

Some activities may be provided via our Arts & Education or Personal Development Programme Co-ordinators.

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How we involve and listen to residents

There are regular monthly hostel meetings for all the residents, allowing them to discuss problems or personal conflicts.

Some residents take part in other Central & Cecil resident involvement activities. One is currently a member of the Resident Scrutiny Panel, which gives Central & Cecil residents a formal way to get involved in monitoring our performance and shaping our services.

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Resident view

“I’ve lived here for a year and four months.

“It was amazing coming here. I was about to become homeless and my mental health wasn’t good. Otherwise I would have been in B&B and I was too vulnerable for that.

”I had a breakdown five years ago and if I’d gone into private accommodation, I would have lost touch with services. I’m not sure how I’d be now.

“Coming to a newly decorated flat with a bed and so on was nice and unexpected. I didn’t know places like this existed. It takes the load off you, as you’re getting back into working life.

“ I’m now at college. Forbes House provides an amazing service.”
 

Jane McBride, is a resident at Forbes House

 

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What is in the area

Forbes House is centrally located close to Chiswick High Road, which has a Sainsbury’s supermarket, a library with IT facilities, a branch of the Citizens Advice Bureau and the Brentford Fountain Leisure Centre.

A bus ride away, residents can access courses at Richmond, West Thames and Hammersmith & Fulham Colleges.

The area has plenty of green space, with Turnham Green, Gunnersbury Park, Syon Park and Kew Gardens all within walking distance, as well as the popular Thames Path.

Gunnersbury Park tube station, five minutes’ walk away, is on the District Line.  Kew Bridge station offers South West train services to Waterloo, or on a circuit via Hounslow and Richmond. In the opposite direction, there are trains to Weybridge.

Bus routes via Chiswick High Road include: 237 (Hounslow Heath to White City), 267 (Fulwell to Hammersmith/Hampton Court), 391 (Richmond to Sands End), 440 (Gunnersbury to Stonebridge Park), H91 (Hammersmith to Hounslow West).

For more information about the local area, visit the Ealing Local Authority website.

Enquiries & Applications

Referrals to this scheme are made via the Hounslow Homeless Persons Unit following assessment of service users needs