U-turn Closed until January

The U-turn team will be taking a break as of the 15th Dec. This will allow us time to plan for 2009. We will reopen the offices in early January. The first phase work will commence in mid Janaury

When: 06/12/08

Year end Christmas Party!

The U-Turn Christmas Braai is no more! Long live the U-Turn Christmas Potjie!

Thats right, after a long history (about 10 years) of hosting a Christmas Braai for the street people we work with, U-Turn has done a U-Turn and hosted a potjie! Find out more...

Important Notice!

U-turn's admin office has moved

As of 5 November 2008 the U-turn office has moved from the St Stephen's office block to the Youth Centre at St Stephen's church in Belvedere Road.

The best way to enter the office is to come from Ranelagh Road and walk across the garden to the cottage on the opposite side.

Our new telephone number is 021 674 6119

When: 24/06/08

U-turn relocation project

U-turn has successfully moved into the 'Powerhouse' and 'Munchies' buildings. We completed the move in the middle of June 2008. We still a have a few final tasks to complete, but the bulk of the work is done. Photos on Power Point... [728kb]

When: 30/06/08

Meal Voucher neighbourhood

U-turn is promoting a meal voucher system whereby members of the public can purchase meal vouchers from U-turn and pass these on to needy people. Find out more...

When: 01/07/08

Establishing a Computer Lab

Now that we have successfully moved into the 'Powerhouse' behind Stadium on Main we aim to move ahead with installing the computer network. Find out more...

Posted: 06/11/08

City hosts Street People's Summit

On the 30th and 31st of October 2008 the City of Cape Town hosted the first summit to end the problem of homelessness. The event was hosted by deputy mayor Grant Haskin and various members of the city council were present. A number of NGO's including ourselves were invited to attend. The two days were encouraging as nobody tried to deny the seriousness of the problem and there were no quick fix solutions presented.

Here is an excerpt from cllr Haskin's address, "We promise an issue-driven and outcomes based conference with a tight agenda that will ensure that specific outcomes are achieved. These include reviewing the programmes implemented by the City and Province; assessing the impact of the programmes, including those developed by the NGO-sector; identifying gaps and duplication; strengthening partnerships and leveraging resources; identifying strategic interventions in order to enhance delivery and to finalise a review of the City's Street People Policy and Strategy.

It was an encouraging day and we look forward to see the continued efforts!

Posted: 01/04/08

Walking with the homeless
by Colleen Lewis

Working with street people has great difficulties. They are mostly observed through working with them for a number of years. This is a sad tale that shows some of the frustrations while trying to assist street people. Below are some salient highlights of our interaction with one particular woman. Read more...

Posted: 01/04/08

Working with a homeless man
by Alun Burt

Our contact with Tom has had its ups and downs. He is however a great example of someone who has passed through all our phases of rehabilitation as I will describe. Read more...

Scrap metal of all kinds can be used!