Endell Street Studio

St Mungo's Endell Street hostel is a modern accommodation project in Covent Garden, London, with on-site facilities including a recording studio.

Residents and St Mungo's clients have the opportunity to play and record music as part of their recovery from homelessness and some have used the studio facilities to work towards an Open College Network qualification in sound recording.

Through a partnership with social enterprise Camden Calling, some of the musicians involved in the studio are now performing regular live shows across London and are working towards completing their own individual albums.

"I was amazed when I saw the recording facilities at Endell Street. I never thought that this dream of mine to make a CD would ever happen and now I am working towards a full album of songs. This is giving me confidence to face the world again after what has been an extremely difficult couple of years and I'm so grateful for the opportunity."
An Endell Street studios client

The studio was part a £3.2 million makeover of the Endell Street hostel which reopened in 2008 after refurbishment through Department for Communities and Local Government (CLG) Places for Change funding, in partnership with Camden Council under their Pathways programme. It provides 53 men and women with accommodation, as well as health, skills and employment services. The recording studio also benefited from additional funds via the Treasury's Invest to Save scheme and generous donations from individual supporters.

Find out more about Endell Street Studio - its musicians, its radio podcasts, hiring the studios and more.

Some highlights of its work include:

• Written on the Streets - a powerful original track written, recorded and produced by St Mungo's clients as part of our 2010 Action Week. Click here to read more and to hear the song.

• Endell Street Studio compilation CDs - these CDs, volumes 1,2 and 3, featured original tracks all written and performed by current of former residents in homeless hostels in Camden. The tracks spanned a range of musical genres from rock to reggae, hip hop to house, laid back Latin music to soulful acoustic songs. In and Around Covent Garden magazine said: "The quality of musicianship is consistently high... This is a commendable social enterprise and one which we are very pleased to support." Read full review here

• High profile visits - Endell Street has been visited by politicians and musicians since its refurbishment, including a visit from multi-platinum-selling jazz singer Madeleine Peyroux