St Mungo's Opening doors for homeless people

St Mungo's Chief Executive

Charles Fraser CBE joined St Mungo's as a hostel worker in 1980, and has been Chief Executive since 1994. Before that he was deputy director, responsible for St Mungo's operations, and prior to that worked in a number of front-line services.

As well as setting up projects, he has led on many innovations in the fields of training, work and health to ensure that St Mungo's remains London's principal agency tackling homelessness and rough sleeping. St Mungo's has won awards and plaudits for pioneering work in many areas, including substance use, outcome stars and client involvement. Each year St Mungo's helps thousands of homeless and vulnerable people across London, with projects now also underway in Reading, Oxford and Bristol.

Charles is a member of the Mayor's Delivery Board, set up to eliminate rough sleeping in London by 2012, and of its sub-groups on work and health. He is also a member of the Department of Health's 'New Horizons' Ministerial Advisory Group on equality in mental health. He is an ambassador for Make Justice Work. He was appointed CBE in 2007.

Read a profile about him and St Mungo's in Society Guardian, written in St Mungo's 40th anniversary year.

More about St Mungo's

St Mungo's was established in 1969 as the St Mungo Community. A secular charity and housing association, it has grown over the last 40 years to become one of the UK's leading homelessness agencies, and focuses on prevention, emergency services and recovery.

We work to prevent homelessness among those at risk, by (for example) providing housing advice in prisons and 'through the gates' support to ex-offenders. We run a range of emergency services - including street outreach teams, emergency shelters for rough sleepers, and hostels - and we support homeless people in their recovery by providing around 1,500 beds each night in safe housing, half of which are in hostels and half of which address a range of high-level needs.

St Mungo's has a comprehensive, and developing, range of health services which address mental illness and drugs and alcohol dependency, complemented by innovations like intermediate care, palliative care and a wellbeing centre.

We tackle the crucial need for occupation through a linked programme of education, training and work projects, thereby tackling long-term unemployment in an incremental and progressive way.

In 2010, St Mungo's formed a strategic alliance with Crisis, the national charity for single homeless people.

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