SIFA Fireside – Birmingham

Our quarterly charity which St Margaret’s Church will be supporting between January and March 2017 is SIFA Fireside: http://www.sifafireside.co.uk/

SIFA Fireside was formed in 2007 through the merger of two well established Birmingham charities: SIFA (Supporting Independence from Alcohol) set up in 1982, and the Fireside Charity set up in 1983.   In combination they have been delivering services for over 30 years.

Today, SIFA Fireside works five days a week with some of the most vulnerable adults in our society: those experiencing homelessness or who are vulnerably-housed. Many of the people they work with  are affected by alcohol, facing mental and physical health problems or otherwise socially excluded. They run a daily Drop-In service where they provide on average 1031 breakfasts, 2009 lunches and 429 showers each month for their clients.

Drop-In sessions are the frontline of SIFA Fireside’s operations, acting as a gateway for clients to access other longer-term support services.

All services SIFA Fireside provides are free and confidential. They are funded by Birmingham City Council, charitable donations, corporate sponsors, funding awards, fund raising and income generation, including from social enterprise.  SIFA Fireside employ more than 30 full and part-time staff, with over 60 active volunteers working with them on a regular basis to make the day-to-day running of their services possible.

SIFA Fireside also provides specialist training programmes, offering access to expertise gained from over 30 years of service delivery.