About Turn a Corner

Hundreds of people walk right by you, as if you are invisible.

It’s hard to sleep at night in case someone steals your belongings – or tries to cause you harm.

It’s little wonder that people sleeping rough are 2x as likely to experience a mental health condition, compared to the general population.

Turn a Corner exists to counteract this isolation. We offer a warm, welcoming space where connection thrives and an opportunity to help reverse the cycle of dehumanisation and isolation.

Reading is an essential escape for many homeless Londoners. Books provide mental stimulation and connection to fill the long days and nights. There is even evidence that reading can reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety.

We meet people who are street homeless where they are, and we do not ask for ID or any personal details.

Returning books is often impractical for our readers – so to avoid extra worries, we don’t require them to.

With carefully selected literature, a choice across genres and languages – from comics to classics, poetry to puzzle books. And if our readers want a book that we don’t have? They can let us know, and we will do our best to source it.

Our library is often the first place where people feel safe enough to open up or ask for help.

We consistently show up at the same three central London locations, and include ten current readers among our volunteer team, to help to build trust.

Even those moments when people chat to us about football, the weather, the books – it can make a huge difference in their day (and ours!), and to long-term mental health.

In many cases, it is connection that people may not get anywhere else.

This includes safe places to sleep and local toilet, washing and drinking water facilities.

This information can be life-changing but difficult to access, as details change all the time. Turn a Corner’s trusted presence on the streets means that we have become a natural hub for the homeless community.

Mental and physical health are inextricably linked. We provide items that help people to have a better day and night, like sleeping bags, clothes and toiletries.

We work in partnership with many organisations – including Vodafone, WrapUp London, a Good Thing, Good Thing Foundation, Beauty Banks and Showerbox – to source items and keep costs down.

In the winter we offer warm clothes and sleeping bags. In the summer, it’s sun cream and water bottles.

Glasses are transformative for our visitors all year round – for reading, but as our driver Steve says, you can’t do much of anything without them!

And we visit music festivals, where we salvage the 100s of perfectly usable sleeping bags and other items left behind.