Street Storage Expand Beyond Belief

Street Storage provides free, safe, and accessible storage to people experiencing homelessness along with one-to-one advocacy, street outreach and emergency response.

Founder Rachel Woolf shares the developments that have taken place since the organisation were co-winners of the 2021 Cinnamon Incubator Final.

What has been your greatest achievement in the last 12 months?

We have tripled our income and our staff team in six months and are working in partnership with national organisations like Crisis and St Mungo’s.

We have gone from a startup organisation to a scaleup organisation and are now prioritising and professionalising the service across all aspects of the charity before beginning our planned UK replication.

Has winning opened up new opportunities for you?

Yes absolutely. We have widened our network through introductions directly from Cinnamon and it has really helped get us recognised in the sector and beyond.

Having a growth mentor has held us accountable and pushed us to seek new opportunities, grow in ways we wouldn’t have done, and stay on track with our five-year strategy.

Financially, the grant has allowed us the freedom to develop and has really set us on a new path to national operations.

Has being part of the Incubator changed the way you work?

Being part of the Cinnamon Network has brought me into a more faith centred way of operating, with a personal focus more on prayer and trust in God.

Organisationally, the Cinnamon Incubator Programme has allowed us to operate with significantly less risk.

Not only do we now have a support team and assistance for our front-line staff, we also have systems in place that centralise and professionalise everything we do.

This wouldn’t have been possible without the grant from the Cinnamon Incubator Programme or the support from fellow incubatees.

What are your plans for the next 12 months?

They are super exciting! We are now able to offer a storage transport service, a one-to-one advocacy programme, an outreach service and a comprehensive volunteer programme.

These new services (as well as the societal context) has meant that demand for our service has tripled.

We have a London business plan to use empty church buildings and church networks of volunteers across the city.

We have also started a replication business plan for the UK to pilot Street Storage using church networks across the UK.

Since winning the Incubator Final Street Storage have:

• Tripled their income and the number of staff members
• Developed new partnerships with Crisis and St Mungo’s
• Started operating three new services

CLICK HERE to find out more about this year’s Cinnamon Incubator Competition and how you can apply.