How homeopathy is helping the homeless in Winchester

“I had never thought about using a different kind of medicine – normally that sort of thing is for people with money. I am lucky to have access to the clinic and will be using it to help me sleep better.” Trinity Centre Winchester, Homeopathy Clinic patient

In January 2022, Homeopathy UK partnered with the Trinity Centre in Winchester and launched a new homeopathy clinic headed up by Dr Tim Foster. The Trinity Centre is a day service for those who are rough sleeping or facing insecure accommodation and has been providing an essential service in Winchester for nearly 25 years.

Every year, Trinity helps around 600 people, a quarter of whom are new patients. They provide support across a wide range of areas, including maintaining tenancy, keeping jobs, food, poverty, domestic abuse and trauma recovery. Trinity also offers clients a range of conventional services such as GPs, nurses, a dentist bus and a chiropodist, as well as complementary treatments.

We talked to Trinity’s Operations Director Hannah Scott to find out about the new clinic and how homeopathy can benefit people that use the Trinity Centre.

Why does the Trinity Centre offer complementary as well as conventional medicine?

Trinity users typically have complex health problems which range from serious issues of addiction through to insomnia. They may also have multiple losses, challenges and traumas in their lives.

We know that conventional medicine alone is not always enough to tackle these, so we also offer complementary and alternative therapies such as acupuncture and mindfulness – and now of course, homeopathy.  We have learnt that offering people a range of treatment options encourages them to take control of their own recovery.

Many of the people we work with may have misused traditional medicine over the years, so a more holistic approach in a therapeutic setting offers something genuinely different. It’s all about stopping the cycle of homelessness.

Homeopathy is safe, there are no side effects from the remedies and the longer appointment times provide time and space to delve into issues – all of which sits very well within the Trinity ethos.

How did Dr Tim Foster become involved with Trinity?

Dr Foster first became involved with The Trinity Centre while working as a GP in Winchester where he saw many of our clients. He is giving his time to us free of charge, for which we are enormously grateful.

Dr Foster trained as a homeopath when he realised that complementary medicine might benefit patients with complicated problems and he has used this integrated approach to medicine since 2010.

What remedies are used at the clinic?

Thanks to Dr Foster’s previous experience with Trinity clients, he was able to agree a list of remedies that were most likely to be needed. These include Aconite for shock, Arsenicum for anxiety and sleep problems, Aurum for depression, Ignatia for grief, Natrum muriaticum for sadness from relationship problems and Staphysagria for ailments resulting from humiliation or abuse.

We also want to extend our thanks to Freeman’s Homeopathic Pharmacy who have kindly donated all the remedies. This means Dr Foster can prescribe the remedies directly to clients, rather than sending them by post after the appointment.

The clinic opened in mid-January so it’s still early days, but what has the feedback been so far?

We’ve already got clients booked in for their second sessions and the feedback has been really positive. One patient said, “I felt like I really had time and space to explore in my session with Dr Foster.”

Another patient added: “I had never thought about using a different kind of medicine – normally that sort of thing is for people with money. I am lucky to have access to the clinic and will be using it to help me sleep better.”

Dr Foster has also kindly offered to make the clinic available to Trinity staff and I’m sure this will be taken up by many of my colleagues!

Dr Tim Foster also runs Winchester Homeopathy, one of Homeopathy UK’s charitable clinics, which provides free treatment to those who need it.