No First Night Out (NFNO) is an innovative service designed to prevent people from sleeping rough for the first time.

It is a cross-borough project run jointly by the City of London and Tower Hamlets. The lead authority for the project is the City of London Corporation.

*Prior to 1st March 2019, NFNO also supported people in the London Borough of Hackney.

NFNO takes referrals from a range of agencies including the two Local Authorities who oversee the project, as well as community-based organisations who form part of the NFNO Partnership Group.

Extensive work has been done by the team to embed the project within the Local Authorities, and to promote our approach and equip Housing Options and other agencies to identify suitable clients and make referrals to NFNO.

Clients are assessed by our caseworkers if they are at risk of rough sleeping and meet the following criteria:

• They have a local connection to one of the two boroughs
• They are eligible for public funds
• They are not currently rough sleeping*

Our Screen & Refer Tool, developed in conjunction with St Mungo’s, along with the Typology of new rough sleepers, are used to assist our colleagues in making referrals. The Typology was developed from the project’s initial research by Becky Rice and St Mungo’s (see About Us).

Once accepted onto the NFNO project, the client is assigned a caseworker who aims to prevent their rough sleeping, assist with emergency accommodation if required, then support their move into suitable medium-to-long term accommodation, as well as provide them with suitable wraparound support from our partner agencies.

*In most circumstances. For further information, see our Referral Criteria.

NFNO is based in the City of London and operates across the City of London and Tower Hamlets. We support individuals who meet our criteria (see ‘Who do you help?’) and hold weekly drop-in surgeries in various locations throughout the two boroughs.

Prior to 1st March 2019, NFNO also supported people in the London Borough of Hackney. 

We work with any single person over the age of 18 who meets our Referral Criteria. Importantly, our service is focussed on prevention, so usually we work only with people who are not currently rough sleeping.

We always ensure that our referral partners are aware of the appropriate services for people who are rough sleeping or who do not meet our criteria; we never turn anyone away without assistance.

If you want to get a clearer idea of our client ‘Typology’, developed through one-to-one interviews with rough sleepers, you can take a look at it here on our Project Documents page.

Currently, No First Night Out can receive referrals up until 28th February 2020 as the project will officially cease to operate on 31st March 2020.

NFNO is funded by the MHCLG’s Rough Sleeping Grant and Rough Sleeping Initiative, awarded in the 2016 and 2018 funding rounds respectively.

The project also receives vital contributions from the City of London Corporation the the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, as well as from the charity Crisis.

Yes, but only in specific circumstances. This is because NFNO is designed to prevent people from rough sleeping for the first time. However, our research and feedback from referral partners suggests we are also well-placed to help prevent people from entering a new period of rough sleeping, if they have a limited experience of rough sleeping in the past.

For further information, see our Referral Criteria. 

We have provided an extensive list of support available to people at risk of or currently experiencing homelessness on this website. Please see our Useful Info page and contact the organisation which is most appropriate for your situation.

If you cannot find what you need on our website, please visit the Homeless Link directory of services, or alternatively contact your Local Authority’s housing team.

In our experience the earlier you seek help, the more likely it is you will get the help you need quickly and before the point of crisis.