Help someone homeless or vulnerable this winter.

Many people look forward to the winter months and the Christmas period, enjoying being with friends and family, sharing food and gifts in the warmth of a home. For those who are homeless or vulnerable in other ways, it can be a very isolating and scary time of year. At Sanctus, the winter is always very challenging, as we have many more people needing our help, especially as the weather gets colder and there is a greater need for shelter, food and support.

We expect this winter to be especially challenging, as we are already seeing a continual flow of new people needing help every week. We know the need for our services will increase and new types of people will be needing support. Not only are we currently working to tackle issues that have come as a result of COVID, such as cases of domestic abuse and the mental health crisis, but we are also now faced with the end of the furlough scheme, the eviction ban ending, the cut to the Universal Credit uplift as well as the rise in gas bills over the winter months.

Sanctus is a lifeline and essential for many. We have a space in the heart of Chelmsford that opens every single day, even on Christmas day, where homeless and vulnerable people can come and be looked after, whether that is for shelter, food, support or company. Our team are there every day, looking out for those who need this help and being there for them in what are often the most challenging moments of their life.

Our team are working hard every day to continue to provide the basic needs of food and human support that we all take for granted. This Christmas and winter period, we really need your kindness. Not only will we be providing hot meals every day, a shelter from the cold, as well as our special festive meals in December, we are also offering extensive support services to tackle the complex issues that our clients face. We appreciate that many people are struggling, but if you are in a position to make a donation at this time, it will mean so much and will make a huge impact on the vulnerable people in our community.

This year, you can not only choose to sponsor a meal for a homeless or vulnerable person over Christmas and the winter period, but there is also an option to sponsor support sessions which can help people turn their life around. We believe that no one should miss out on having a Christmas meal, but also no one should have to face their battles alone, our team at Sanctus are there every single day for those who need us. Please consider giving to help someone struggling this year.

Sponsor a meal:

£3.89 - Will cover one of our normal freshly cooked, hot meals for someone in need this winter.

£5.62 - Will cover one of our special festive meals being served across the Christmas and New Year period.

£19.02 - Will cover two normal meals and two special festive meals.

£28.10 - Will cover a special festive meal on each of the five days they will be served.

Sponsor life-changing support:

£10.00 - Will provide someone with the initial support they need to access help.

£15.00 - Will offer someone a needs assessment to ensure early intervention.

£25.00 - Will provide a specialist advice and support session to help someone to turn their life around.

£100.00 - Will provide someone with 1:1 support across multiple sessions to help with obtaining accommodation, addiction support, benefits issues and returning to work.

There are a range of complex reasons why someone would need support sessions from Sanctus, but some of the common needs include, individuals who many be facing eviction, lonliness and isolation, mental health and lack of support network, prison leavers who have nowhere to go, people who have found themselves rough sleeping for the first time who have never been in this position before and they don't know what to do. We work closely with each of our clients during these sessions to provide the necessary support, advice, referrals and signposting.

Our support is tailored to the needs of each individual. For instance, someone who is on Universal Credit and is vulnerably housed comes to Sanctus in need of help. They have recently been faced with the cut to the Universal Credit uplift and now struggling to buy food and pay their bills. While at Sanctus they can receive a cooked meal and take a few items home from our food bank style service to help them over the next few days. They can also have an appointment with a member of the Support Team in the Sanctus Support Hub. During these meetings they can get help with their benefits, discuss their mental health, receive advice or referrals, have their heating put back on and a call to their utility providers to put a plan in place to ensure they still have heating over the winter without going into further debt. We have an in-house Tenancy Sustainment Officer, who works closely with people during these sessions to prevent evictions and therefore homelessness. The purpose of these sessions is to take practical steps to prevent someone's situation from becoming worse and to ultimately overcome their issues so they can take positive steps forward.

Below our some of our figures for 2020:

- The Sanctus cafe served over 16,900 freshly cooked meals for free.

- Over 15,000 items (sandwiches, pies, etc.) that would have gone to waste were collected from local Chelmsford businesses and given away in the cafe.

- Sanctus completed over 1,100 free mentoring, advice and advocacy sessions. The importance and outcomes from these sessions cannot be overestimated. Especially throughout the pandemic, with many of our clients suffering from deteriorating mental health and severe financial hardship. Just one session may mean that someone completes a benefits form, reobtains their ID, decides against drastic steps or receives help or advice with their challenges. These all help to progress or further progress their journey in a positive way.

- Over 200 people obtained clothes and sanitary products from Sanctus, 60+ people were provided with tents, sleeping bags and other essential items.

- We worked alongside 11 different agencies, helping to build an eco-system of support for our clients.

- Sanctus assisted in the re-housing of scores of individuals, 10 individuals were directly re-housed into fully furnished housing where Sanctus provided kitchen goods, furniture and other items for their new homes.

- Numerous evictions were prevented through our tenancy sustainment programme which ensures individuals do not end up back on the streets.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and we wish you a Merry Christmas from everyone at Sanctus and all of our service users.

If we do not reach our target for this fundraising campaign, every penny that is raised will go towards supporting our frontline services at Sanctus. Likewise, in the fortunate event that we exceed this fundraising target, everything raised will be used to support our services over Christmas and throughout the winter period.