£30,000 to Help Homeless People in Charity’s 30th Year
10.01.08

Leading homelessness charity, The Wallich, is celebrating its 30th Anniversary this year and Chief Executive Stephen Gamgee now has something else to celebrate after it was announced at the weekend he is to receive an MBE.

The Wallich provides accommodation, outreach services and support to thousands of vulnerable homeless people across Wales, with projects in 15 of Wales’ 22 Local Authority areas.

Their work is as diverse as the people they help, supporting the most vulnerable people on the streets, in hostels and nightshelters and preventing homelessness through mediation, tenancy support and bond boards

The Wallich started in 1978 with a twenty bed hostel on Broadway in Cardiff. They now manage more than 60 homes and premises around the country, have more than 200 staff and volunteers and support more than 500 vulnerable people every day.

Chief Executive Stephen Gamgee, who has worked in the homelessness field for 25 years, and led the charity for 15 years, has dedicated the MBE he is to receive to all those working on frontline services for The Wallich;

“In celebrating our 30 years, it is hard not to reflect on the sad fact that, in 2008, society continues to create people who are vulnerable, people who are homeless, and people who remain in dire need of our help. For those who reach The Wallich, however, there have always been people, staff and volunteers, who listen, encourage and comfort. I really feel this is as much an award for me as for all those people in The Wallich organisation who work right at the front line. I know what it takes to do that job day in and day out.

I am very pleased that The Wallich is a part of my life, and I am very proud of the achievements of all of its staff.”
Biography – Stephen Gamgee

Stephen Gamgee is the Chief Executive of The Wallich, a charity providing accommodation and other support services to homeless people in Wales.

Born in London in 1951, he left home at 16 and worked as a musician, amongst other things, before attending Southampton University at the age of 28. He graduated with a degree in Politics and International Studies and entered his first job working with homeless people in a London hostel in 1983.

Here he developed a particular interest in supporting people with alcohol and mental health problems, both of these specialisms have been vital to his work in the sector and have enabled him to support development of organisational expertise around drugs which have become increasing relevant in the homelessness field.

In 1989 he was employed by the London Borough of Lewisham to help replace a large institutional hostel with smaller scale, more modern alternatives.

He joined The Wallich in 1993 with a brief to professionalise the charity and lead its growth and development.

In 1993, The Wallich (then The Wallich Clifford Community) was a small charity helping people solely in Cardiff. It now has an annual turnover of over £6million,and operates nearly 40 projects providing accommodation for the homeless and support schemes that help prevent people becoming homeless.

He lives in Penarth, is married and has two teenage daughters.

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