Greece Outside In: A new kind of private members club

Soho charity the House of St Barnabas is creating a private members' club to help homeless people find lasting work

The House of St Barnabas has been a charity in the heart of Soho, London, since 1846 and aims to help those affected by homelessness to find sustained employment.

After many years operating as a residential hostel, in 2005 we found out that our accommodation no longer met the regulations necessary. It would have cost us over £1.5m to make the necessary changes and our capacity would have been reduced from 40 beds to 15.

This forced the charity to look back to its aims and then find the best way to move forward.

We decided to create an employment academy offering training schemes, which will be integrated into a not-for-profit members' club opening in autumn 2013. The club will provide opportunities for work experience in a dynamic environment and first-rate commercial hospitality training. The club, charity and employment academy will be part of the beautiful and historic building at 1 Greek Street, Soho, offering a new vision for members' clubs, one with the drive for social change at its heart.

Building a new model has been challenging. In 2006 we undertook a lot of research and took advice regarding the shape we needed to be in to support our clients. After many unsuccessful attempts at other models between 2006 and 2009, we eventually met a potential partner, Quintessentially. It suggested hosting a 12-week not-for-profit pop-up events space and members' club within the house, with funds raised being split between its foundation and The House of St Barnabas.

It took 26 months – and a lot of money – to get permission to change the building's use.

Some hard decisions were made over that period, including reducing team members (including myself) to part-time working and making some redundancies.

To make the club a success we realised that we needed a hospitality partner that would not only be excited about providing outstanding food and service but that would see our employment academy as an integral part of the offer.

We set about looking for that partner by working with Nick Lander (author of The Art of the Restaurateur and former owner of L'Escargot) who introduced us to the best potential partners London had to offer.

In the end, we formed a partnership with Benugo, which will create an elegant dining room with a supper club feel, and a selection of bars and lounge spaces. Clients will be trained in the academy on the top floor, before moving downstairs to the restaurant and bar for hands-on work experience and hospitality training. Benugo has a great track record of creating bespoke dining spaces, and the collaboration will add to a hugely successful national portfolio of ventures within public spaces.

We also needed to renovate the building because it did not meet 21st-century plumbing, electrics or data standards. We shut the doors of our house in January 2013, and renovation works are well underway. With a huge amount of care, we are restoring the house and making it fit for purpose, while retaining the amazing features and preserving the identity of the building.

Throughout the process, we have had to form and maintain relationships with our supporters. In 2006 the charity essentially went into stasis, so some of our support networks fell away as they worked with other charities. When I joined in 2009 one of the charity's main aims was to re-form relationships and forge new ones.

By clarifying our vision we could engage with those who wanted to support it. Without that backing, from Charity Bank, the Garfield Weston Foundation and the Linbury Trust among others, none of this would have been possible.

First and foremost the club must be a successful business in its own right. The charity will be relying on the club for the funds necessary to run the employment academy and support its former students. Our aim is for the charity to be self sustaining within five years of opening the club. Our revenue streams are membership fees, donations, venue hire, a share of F&B (food and beverage) turnover. We are also in talks with some fantastic brands about how we can work together on the project. Virgin Media has already confirmed its support.

We want the house to be a place where we train and support clients through their development, both personally and within the workplace.

Most of us have networks to rely on when we feel below par; someone at work who can give us a hug or a friend with a cheerful text. Most of our clients have lost these networks. The house offers them a chance to make connections beyond the world of homelessness, rather than leaving them prey to institutionalisation.

People are asking: "who will your members be?" They will be the architects of social change, the interested and interesting and the incurably curious. What do I want all of these people to have in common? Having the ability to think across multiple disciplines and knowing how to drive their ideas into action.

The stereotype of the private members' club is of moneyed patrons dangling empty glasses at their servers, awaiting refills and attention. The phrase "social enterprise" conjures up images of a worthy but less than luxury service. What if instead, a members' club could be just one part of a humanist ecosystem that offered members three things: a Grade I-listed sanctuary (with a secluded garden and private chapel) in the bustling heart of Soho, a connection to the rich history of the area and the city, and the chance to reintegrate those devastated by homelessness into sustained employment?

This is the starting vision of the House of St Barnabas. To be a place where the pleasures and needs of one group facilitate the dreams of others.

Sandra Schembri is chief executive at the House of St Barnabas

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