House of St Barnabas closure prompts partnership with Only A Pavement Away

Hospitality homelessness charity Only A Pavement Away has agreed to oversee graduates from the House of St Barnabas amid the "immediate" closure of the charity and members' club.

The House of St Barnabas in London's Soho, which was founded ten years ago to provide employment opportunities for people facing homelessness, closed yesterday after ten years of hosting music, entertainment, private catering and training events.

In a statement online, the not-for-profit club said: "We invested for growth this financial year and tried relentlessly to find ways to make the model work. But the returns did not come quickly enough. With our costs growing substantially faster than income, our business model is simply not sustainable in the current economic environment, and we have had too many ‘rainy days' to ride it out."

Over the past decade, the House has supported 307 individuals experiencing homeless into employment through its graduate programme.

It has also collaborated with a number of hospitality businesses in that time, including BaxterStorey and Benugo.

Following the closure, the organisation has entered a partnership with industry charity Only A Pavement Away to ensure the House's graduates "receive the Progression Support we have promised them" through Only A Pavement Away's programme of helping prison leavers, veterans and those facing homelessness into careers within hospitality.

A core team of seven employees from the House of St Barnabas will be "temporarily retained to the end of January" to manage the process of winding down and supporting the Employment Academy graduates.

The House of St Barnabas added: "We want to express our sincere thanks to all our members and supporters. We are so very sorry that the journey is ending here, but every penny you have spent or donated to us has helped us break the cycle of homelessness.

"Thank you to everyone who made our community so special. We are proud of what we have built over the past 10 years."

Adam Stephens and Chris Allen of Evelyn Partners LLP were appointed liquidators after the charity revealed "we no longer have the resources to invest in a new approach".

The building and chapel at 1 Greek Street, where House of St Barnabas resided, will "continue to be held in trust for charitable purposes".