Our history

Jimmy’s opened its doors to the first guests in November 1995, so providing
Cambridge's first year-round night shelter in time for Christmas!

Jimmy's is named in memory of Jim Dilley, who spent much of his life sleeping rough
in the region, or spending winter nights in one of Cambridge's temporary shelters.
In the last few years of his life, Jim slept under the M11 motorway bridge at
junction 13: our logo is a representation of that bridge.

In the winter of 1993, Jim was told he had lung cancer. Sadly he died in Papworth
hospital in June 1994, and subsequently his ashes were scattered at his old 'home'
- junction 13 of the M11.

His moving story so inspired a small group of people that they were determined to
establish a permanent night shelter in Cambridge.

Crucial to setting up Jimmy’s were funding and donations. We were lucky to receive
funding from CRISIS, the Opportunities for Volunteering scheme, plus countless
donations from many other organisations and individuals. These included kitchen
equipment from BT in Ipswich, furniture from the Eaden Lilley department store,
a food mountain from the OLEM church.

Even at this stage, Jimmy's was reliant on - and extremely grateful to - an army
of volunteers, who worked tirelessly to get us up and running. These volunteers
came from all over: the wider church community, Cambridge's two universities,
individuals who had heard or read about Jimmy's in the media, retired people,
busy business people, our neighbours in Petersfield - the list really is endless!
An especially important group was that drawn from the homeless who helped with
decorating, collecting donations, cleaning, cooking, odd-jobbing - already we knew
our guests would help make Jimmy's  very special and unique.

Our services then, although essential, were rather basic: bed, breakfast and an
evening meal.

Today, having provided shelter for around 4000 people since opening, our services
and life at Jimmy's has moved on enormously - each new service being inspired by the
needs of our guests. We now have laundry facilities, a dedicated clothing store, a
quiet reading room, pool table, sports activities, free internet access, guest advocacy,
chiropody, move-on houses and visiting agencies such as street outreach team, drug &
alcohol services, psychiatrist and St. John Ambulance footcare team.

Services like Jimmy's will always be needed. We aim to ensure that whatever the future
holds, we will continue to offer love, support and a place of safety and security for
all our guests - in memory of Jim Dilley and the many others like him.