A unique partnership between London Borough of Barking and Dagenham, Barking Churches Unite, award winning charity ShowerBox and NHS North East London, ShowerBox Barking is the first permanent dedicated shower facility for people experiencing homelessness.
Summary
It provides hot showers, clean underwear, respite and refreshments to promote better hygiene and health. With rough sleeping in the Borough rising 64 per cent from 2020/21 to 2022/23, it addresses a need for access to sanitation to reduce risks to health and avoidable service demand.
The project emerged from ‘pop-up’ events for homeless people, with surveys showing demand for access to showers above that of medical care.
The challenge
Sanitation is a human right, as recognised by the United Nations, and is vital for individual and community health, including those sleeping rough who are at greatest risk of infectious diseases, hygiene related conditions (e.g. sepsis) and requiring services. With rough sleeping in the Borough rising 64 per cent from 2020/21 to 2022/23, it was identified as a need and opportunity to reduce risks to health and avoidable service demand in this inclusion health group.
The solution
A temporary ShowerBox was provided at a health and wellbeing ‘pop-up’ event for people experiencing homelessness alongside food, medical care and other services. A user survey found that showers were the second greatest unmet need for attendees (after food and before medical care).
A two-year partnership was established to provide the UK’s first permanent dedicated shower facility for people experiencing homelessness between the Council, Barking Churches Unite, award-winning charity ShowerBox and NHS North East London. ShowerBox Barking offers secure, hot showers, fresh towels, new underwear, toiletries, refreshment and respite every Friday at Barking Learning Centre to people experiencing homelessness.
The impact
Launched in March 2025, the service has steadily increased usage of the weekly service (e.g. up to 19 users over a four-hour session), as well as its reach to women as well as men. This provision is free to users and not intended to achieve savings or increase revenue – it is hoped that it is playing a part in helping those experiencing rough sleeping to retain their sense of dignity and self-respect, which will help them in engaging with services and agreeing a pathway to settled accommodation.
How is the new approach being sustained?
ShowerBox Barking is a weekly volunteer-run facility led by Barking Churches Unite at Barking Learning Centre. It was supported by start-up funding from LBBD and two-year funding from NHS North East London, with resources also donated through Barking Churches Unite and the ShowerBox charity.
Lessons learned
- Benefits of evaluation and using experts with lived experience to identify opportunities and coproduce services.
- Potential of cross-sector collaboration as equal partners to identify and utilise the unique opportunities and resources of different sectors.
- Working with trusted voices to engage with those most excluded from mainstream services and suffering the greatest inequalities (and therefore greatest benefit from support) (e.g. Barking Churches Unite’s The Source already provide a range of services to people experiencing homelessness which ShowerBox Barking links with).
Contact and further information
Zoinul Abidin, Head of Universal Services
[email protected]
Links to relevant documents:
- The ShowerBox website for Barking
- A BBC article about ShowerBox
- The Pavement story about ShowerBox