Sapphire Independent Housing Jobs

Sapphire Independent Housing is a small London housing association based at 1 Holmes Road in Kentish Town. It began in 1969 as Irish Centre Hostels, set up through the Irish Centre in Camden to house young Irish people arriving in the capital, became Irish Centre Housing in 1995 and took its current name in 2015. Its mission is to provide homes that improve lives and enable people to live independently.

Accommodation and support services

Sapphire runs supported and temporary hostel accommodation alongside self-contained general needs flats for single people, a small amount of family housing and some shared ownership. Its main schemes are Conway House, a 60-bed hostel for men with a range of support needs that includes a training and resource centre; Bethany House, a women-only hostel in Islington with 24-hour security; Townsend House, a service for young women aged 16 to 25; and Hepburn Court, temporary accommodation for homeless families. There is also an eight-bed shared house for single women in Kilburn. Every resident in supported accommodation has a named Supported Housing Officer who draws up a personal action plan and holds regular key-work sessions covering benefits, communal living, training, volunteering and preparation for independent living.

• Supported hostel accommodation for men, women and young women
• Temporary accommodation for homeless families
• Shared and self-contained general needs move-on housing
• Key-work support, life skills and resettlement

Where they work and who they support

Services are spread across four London boroughs, with a strong presence in Camden, Islington and Kilburn, plus schemes in south Hertfordshire. Residents include single homeless adults with mental health, substance misuse or other support needs, young women, and homeless families placed in temporary accommodation.

Working here

In its most recent staff survey 88 per cent of employees said they would recommend Sapphire as an employer. The organisation holds Investors in People Gold and Customer Service Excellence accreditation and is a Disability Confident employer. Benefits include private health insurance and a health cash-back scheme after qualifying periods, life insurance, a group pension, an employee assistance programme, cycle-to-work and season ticket loans, an interest-free rent deposit loan, flexible and remote working where possible, long-service holiday increases up to 30 days, and a peer recognition scheme. Frontline roles are Supported Housing Officers, project workers and project assistants, team leaders and housing operations managers, and the association recruits locum bank staff on an ongoing basis. Contact: info@sih.org or 020 7485 8889.