The former Clerkenwell fire station

BRITAIN’S first LGBTQI+ homeless shelter is moving out of its temporary home – the old Clerkenwell fire station – and expanding its service.

The Outside Project is now looking for further funding to make a new domestic abuse refuge, known as the Star Project, permanent.

It was launched last year due to the extra demand during the Covid-19 lockdowns and takes its name from a 1970s refuge in New York City.

Carla Ecola, the project’s founder, said: “Covid magnified the fact that these services were missing. We want to work to ensure people get the space they need. We also want to make it easier for our community to set up services as there is little out there at the moment. We have got a lot of support to get to where we are – and we are looking forward to welcoming people back into our shelter.”

The Outside Project, partly funded by City Hall, currently houses 19 people but is looking to expand its services to a new a location. It is not announcing the exact whereabouts for safety reasons.

The shelter, in partnership with Stonewall Housing, operated throughout the pandemic for 24 hours providing beds. Before the pandemic, the Outside Project also set up a café, library and gallery with exhibitions on the history of homelessness.

Figures show there are just 77 LGBTQI+-specific shelter spaces in London despite more than half a million people identifying as members of these communities in the capital.