Mayday Trust

Formed in 1976 by Probation Officer Michael Varah and Probation Volunteer Jim Higgins. Mayday Trust is a forward-thinking organisation working alongside people going through some of the toughest life transitions, including people experiencing homelessness, leaving care, coming out of prison, or experiencing emotional distress. After 30 years of delivering conventional services to those experiencing homelessness, ten years ago Mayday Trust began to develop a new way of working alongside people going through tough times – the Person-led, Transitional and Strength-based (PTS) Response. Through listening and learning from the reality of people’s lives, Mayday found that when tough times, such as homelessness, happen people often know what they need to get through, however are rarely able to access it. Instead, people are forced down routes they know won’t work for them and left feeling out of control. Worse still, these process-led responses can prolong tough times or even make situations worse. The PTS Response provides Coaches to walk alongside people experiencing tough times, listening to what a person wants, focusing on their strengths, hopes and aspirations for the future. By working in this way an environment is created where people have choice and control over their lives and they can move on to a life away from services. PTS Coaches also get to hear, experience and understand the reasons why the systems encountered through tough times are not working; by sharing these insights and exposing barriers, positive change not only happens for the person, but across systems as a whole.