Networkfour
Charity 1146639
Overview
Summary
Networkfour appears to be a Birmingham-based, volunteer-dependent charity operating at the intersection of homelessness, street vulnerability and wider social exclusion. Its formal objects are broad, but its public-facing projects suggest a practical model of reaching people who may be missed by conventional services, combining street care, targeted support and referral or advice. The organisation’s role may be less about a single specialist intervention than about creating accessible points of contact for vulnerable people across different stages of crisis.
Operational geography
Coverage: Citywide
Operational areas:
- City Centre
Evidence and reasoning
Supporting evidence
City Centre
Confidence: high
Direct current evidence identifies Birmingham Pastors as a street-care service operating 'in and around the city centre'. The latest filed annual report also records that Life & Sole had operated from a free retail unit inside the Mailbox Birmingham. Together these show a sustained, direct operational presence in the City Centre, rather than merely a registered address there.
- Networkfour, Birmingham Pastors project page
States that Birmingham Pastors is a volunteer street-care team 'based in and around the city centre' and that its outreach patrols operate around the city centre alongside police, retail security, street wardens and the ambulance service. - Networkfour Community Outreach Trustees' Report and Financial Statements, year ended 31 December 2024
Reports that Life & Sole had remained partnered within a free retail unit inside the Mailbox Birmingham for nearly five years.
Remaining uncertainties
- The evidence supports a citywide operational identity: Life & Sole says it supports people 'throughout the city', while Birmingham Pastors has a clearly defined City Centre patrol area. However, the organisation does not publish a current ward-by-ward service map or a list of routine delivery venues, so no additional Birmingham wards can be evidenced confidently.
- The Mailbox retail-unit evidence is from the 2024 annual report, approved in 2025. It is strong evidence of a recent City Centre service base, but the available current website content does not independently confirm that the unit remains open in August 2026.
- The registered/contact address should not be treated as a delivery site: the contact page identifies it as J.E. Johnson Ltd, and the Charity Commission records that the charity does not own or lease land or property.
- Networkfour's reach extends beyond Birmingham in some respects. The 2024 report records Lifelinefour referrals from police units across several West Midlands localities and says Life & Sole reaches the Midlands and beyond. The available current evidence nevertheless presents Birmingham, and particularly citywide support within Birmingham, as the organisation's principal operational identity.
Additional evidence needed
- A current service-delivery or impact report identifying the Birmingham wards, schools, community venues or referral locations served by Life & Sole and Lifelinefour.
- Confirmation from Networkfour or the Mailbox of whether the Life & Sole retail unit remains an active service or collection/distribution base.
- Current referral and casework data showing the proportion of Lifelinefour activity delivered within Birmingham compared with neighbouring West Midlands authorities.
Areas of work
- Education/training
- General Charitable Purposes
- The Prevention Or Relief Of Poverty
Who they help
- Other Charities Or Voluntary Bodies
- Other Defined Groups
- The General Public/mankind
How they help
- Provides Advocacy/advice/information
- Provides Services
Discoveries involving this organisation
The Atlas has not published any Discoveries involving this organisation yet.
Observations
A broad inclusion mission is expressed through street-level access points
Networkfour appears to translate a wide charitable mandate on social exclusion into practical projects that meet people in accessible, often informal settings, particularly through Birmingham Pastors and its other initiatives.
Why it matters
This suggests the organisation may occupy an outreach and connection role: identifying need, offering immediate support and helping people engage with wider sources of help rather than serving only a narrowly defined client group.
Show evidence
“Its objects include preventing social exclusion and assisting socially excluded people to integrate into society.”
Source:Charity Commission“Birmingham Pastors is a volunteer street care team based in and around the city centre.”
Source:Organisation“Its activities include advice, information and support for hard-to-reach young people and adults.”
Source:Charity Commission
Volunteer capacity appears central rather than supplementary
Networkfour’s operating model appears to rely heavily on volunteers, especially for its street-care work, with paid provision or professional capacity not evidenced in the supplied material.
Why it matters
This may make the charity unusually rooted in civic participation and faith-community networks, while also making service reach and continuity sensitive to volunteer recruitment, training and retention.
Show evidence
“All our costs are met through the generosity of donors.”
Source:Organisation“We depend almost entirely on the kindness of our volunteers.”
Source:Organisation“Birmingham Pastors is built on volunteering by people from faith groups, students, retired folks or anyone over 18.”
Source:Organisation
The charity spans immediate crisis support and longer-term exclusion risks
Its stated work suggests Networkfour is attempting to address both visible crises, such as homelessness and street vulnerability, and underlying drivers including debt, worklessness, education, health and offending.
Why it matters
This breadth may allow the organisation to recognise interconnected needs that are often treated separately. It also raises a useful question about whether its projects provide direct support across all these areas or primarily identify needs and work through partners.
Show evidence
“Its activities tackle homelessness, worklessness, debt, health and well-being, offender outreach and education.”
Source:Charity Commission“Its objects identify unemployment, financial hardship, ill health, substance dependency, poor skills, family breakdown, poor housing and crime as factors in social exclusion.”
Source:Charity Commission“Its projects include Birmingham Pastors, Life & Sole and Lifelinefour.”
Source:Organisation
- The distinct purpose, target groups and delivery model of Life & Sole and Lifelinefour are not described.
- There is no evidence of beneficiary numbers, geographic reach, outcomes or formal referral relationships.
- The nature and significance of the organisation's named partners are not available.
Remaining uncertainties
- Project-level descriptions showing services, eligibility, delivery locations and pathways into other support.
- Recent annual reports or impact data covering volunteer numbers, people supported, outcomes and funding mix.
- A list of partner organisations and evidence of how collaboration operates in practice.
Additional evidence needed
Charity Commission profile
Activities
GIVING ADVICE,INFORMATION AND SUPPORT TO SOME OF BIRMINGHAM'S HARDEST TO REACH YOUNG PEOPLE AND ADULTS THROUGH PROJECTS THAT TACKLE HOMELESSNESS, WORKLESSNESS, DEBT, HEALTH & WELL BEING, OFFENDER OUTREACH AND EDUCATION.
Charity objects
TO PROMOTE SOCIAL INCLUSION FOR THE PUBLIC BENEFIT BY PREVENTING PEOPLE FROM BECOMING SOCIALLY EXCLUDED, RELIEVING THE NEEDS OF THOSE PEOPLE WHO ARE SOCIALLY EXCLUDED AND ASSISTING THEM TO INTEGRATE INTO SOCIETY; AND THE RELIEF OF POVERTY AND IN PARTICULAR THE PROVISION OF TEMPORARY ACCOMMODATION FOR HOMELESS YOUNG PEOPLE IN NECESSITOUS CIRCUMSTANCES AND IN NEED OF A TEMPORARY PLACE OF REFUGE. FOR THE PURPOSE OF THIS CLAUSE, "SOCIALLY EXCLUDED" MEANS BEING EXCLUDED FROM SOCIETY, OR PARTS OF SOCIETY, AS A RESULT OF ONE OR MORE OF THE FOLLOWING FACTORS: UNEMPLOYMENT; FINANCIAL HARDSHIP; YOUTH OR OLD AGE; ILL HEALTH (PHYSICAL OR MENTAL); SUBSTANCE ABUSE OR DEPENDENCY INCLUDING ALCOHOL AND DRUGS; DISCRIMINATION ON THE GROUNDS OF SEX, RACE, DISABILITY, ETHNIC ORIGIN, RELIGION, BELIEF, CREED, SEXUAL ORIENTATION OR GENDER RE-ASSIGNMENT; POOR EDUCATIONAL OR SKILLS ATTAINMENT; RELATIONSHIP AND FAMILY BREAKDOWN; POOR HOUSING (THAT IS HOUSING THAT DOES NOT MEET BASIC HABITABLE STANDARDS; AND CRIME (EITHER AS A VICTIM OF CRIME OR AS AN OFFENDER REHABILITATING INTO SOCIETY).