Centrepoint: how a charity uses contact centres to create change for good

Mar 07, 2025

Centrepoint is a charity with a very clear mission: to end youth homelessness in the UK. As a national charity, one of the best ways they can be available to people who are seeking help is through their two Helpline contact centres in Manchester and London.

Last week I had the privilege to join a webinar to meet some of the Centrepoint Helpline staff and volunteers, and learn about the vital work they do to support vulnerable young people. What I took away from the session was not just a better understanding of Centrepoint’s work and impact, but also inspiration on some best practices that are relevant to all contact centre organisations.

There are five main ways that the Helpline enables Centrepoint to achieve its goals

1. Practical advice and guidance

In the last year, the Centrepoint Helpline has provided thousands of young people with direct advice and guidance on where to seek additional support. For example, providing advice to someone facing eviction of their rights and entitlements.

2. An emotional connection

The Helpline team support people who are facing domestic violence, abuse and addiction, and dealing with a high level of precarity in their lives. An empathetic, friendly ear is an essential part of the service. It’s why, even though Centrepoint offers a wide range of contact channels, and most callers are in their teens and early twenties, over 50% of the contacts are still over the phone.

3. Case management

The team is set up to take time to follow up on cases and make sure people have been able to receive the support entitled to them. This helps to prevent people with more complex needs from slipping through the cracks.

4. Knowledge and tools development

Over the last year, using their expertise, the Helpline team have built a knowledgebase tool called the Support Map, that helps them to provide a better and more proactive service to people who call in. The Support Map is a geographic guide to all the relevant services that might be available to someone in a specific city or region. It’s a great example of the expertise developed by a frontline team being used to improve a service overall.

5. Insights for Policy team

Perhaps the most impressive large scale impact that the team have made is to use Helpline data to monitor and track bigger structural issues than are affecting homelessness. Working with Centrepoint’s policy team, they have been able to identify trends which indicate that local authorities are gatekeeping. This is the practice of using administrative burdens to delay someone’s ability to get housing support. For example, the team identified that some local authorities have been asking homeless pregnant women to provide proof of pregnancy, even though proof is not required, by law. You can read more about the impact of this work here.

In all, an incredibly impressive operation, achieving amazing results on limited budget and resources. The Centrepoint Helpline stands as an inspiration to all.

Donation matching throughout March - turn your £50 donation into £170!

Please donate here to directly support the vital work done by the Centrepoint Helpline

Any donations made up to 31st March will be matched
In addition, I will personally match all donations made up to 31st March, up to a total value of £500 (plus Gift Aid)
For any donations over £50, I will promote your organisation in a future newsletter (read by over 3000 industry professionals each month)

This means, if you are a UK taxpayer and select Gift Aid, then every £50 you donate will be worth an incredible £170 to the Centrepoint Helpline.

Please send a screenshot of your donation to servicematters@substack.com for me to match it and give you a shout out.

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