Streetwise Project

---

Our House Community's Streetwise Project was established in 2006, taken over on Our House in June 2020. We help support some of the most vulnerable sex workers living and working in  Liverpool. Streetwise operates a mobile Harm Reduction Unit that operates every Friday and Saturday evening until early hours, when many other services have closed for the weekend. 

Our outreach van goes to red light areas to support people sex working and help reduce risks by offering a caring, non-judgemental space of safety and giving emergency assistance to workers including emergency food, condoms, referrals to specialist agencies, protection and clothing. We have helped to support over 140 sex workers over the last 3 years including woman, men and transgender living and working in difficult circumstances. Any concerns or support needs are then passed onto our partnering agencies. 

The sex workers come from a variety of different backgrounds, many will be struggling with addiction after suffering from complex family and social upbringings, We work closely with local police and both statutory and voluntary projects so we can be part of a coordinated approach to offer holistic support to these vulnerable individual and reduce their risks.

The Streetwise project is delivered by a group of volunteers who are passionate about protecting and supporting sex workers living and working in our city. Many of our volunteers will come from different professional backgrounds including nurses, doctors, emergency services, teachers, and military services. We have over 20 volunteers on a rota going out every weekend.

We offer practical and emotional support and harm reduction work by offering information on alcohol, drugs, housing, domestic violence, sexual health and working safely. To do this well we also work closely with specialist services across the Liverpool City Region including Merseyside Police, Red Umbrella, Axess, CGL and often liaising with Careline Liverpool, Homeless services, Hostels, Domestic violence services as well as many other services.