LATEST UPDATE - A further £10 has been donated to the JustGiving page, of which £9.36 will be sent to the Lloyds Bank Treasurers Account once JustGiving has taken out their fees of 64p. The total now stands at £4,805.92. Our heartfelt thanks to everyone who has donated money and everyone who has given help to Jay and Jane. Thank you for your compassion. We are very happy that Christmas 2017 will be a warm, happy and secure one for Jay and Jane, Praise God. There are, of course, many more homeless people in this country living in tents or worse and we would like you to think of them, especially as the weather gets colder. Please say a prayer for them, as nobody deserves to live in those conditions. Thank you.

LATEST UPDATE - The funds have now reached the Lloyds Bank Treasurers Account. From the £5,095 which was donated on the JustGiving page, JustGiving has taken out their fees of £318.44, leaving a total of £4,776.56. There has also been an additional £20 deposited at Lloyds, taking the total to £4,796.56. We would just like to take this opportunity to say a huge thank you, to everyone who has donated money and given help to Jay and Jane, without your compassion and help, none of this would have been possible. I can now tell you, Praise God, that Jay and Jane are now settled in rented accommodation and have already registered at a doctors practice and are presently trying to find a dentist they can register with. Now they have an address, they will shortly be able to access benefits. This page will now close, in 7 days time, on the 23rd November 2017.

LATEST UPDATE - THE FUNDS ARE NOW BEING PROCESSED BY JUSTGIVING AND IN APPROXIMATELY 6-10 DAYS TIME THE FUNDS WILL BE IN THE LLOYDS BANK TREASURERS ACCOUNT.

LATEST UPDATE - THE LLOYDS BANK TREASURERS ACCOUNT IS NOW UP AND RUNNING. JUSTGIVING WILL SOON TRANSFER THE FUNDS INTO THIS ACCOUNT. WHEN THIS HAPPENS, DONATIONS WILL NO LONGER BE ABLE TO BE PAID INTO JUSTGIVING. THE MONEY WILL STAY IN THE LLOYDS BANK TREASURERS ACCOUNT AND WHEN ACCOMMODATION RENT BECOMES DUE, LLOYDS WILL TRANSFER THE REQUIRED AMOUNT OVER TO THE LANDLORD/LETTING AGENT.

UPDATE - PRAISE GOD, IN JUST A WEEK WE HAVE REACHED AND GONE BEYOND OUR GOAL OF £5,000. WHEN THE LLOYDS BANK TREASURERS ACCOUNT IS OPERATIONAL IN APPROXIMATELY 2 WEEKS TIME, JUSTGIVING WILL TRANSFER THE FUNDS OVER, MINUS THEIR PAGE FEES, ALLOWING US TO GET ON AND FIND A LANDLORD WHO IS WILLING TO RENT JAY AND JANE ACCOMMODATION. ONCE THEY HAVE AN ADDRESS, THEY WILL BE ABLE TO ACCESS OTHER SERVICES. WE HAVE THEREFORE DECIDED TO KEEP THIS PAGE RUNNING FOR THE TIME BEING. TO ENABLE US TO DO THIS, WE HAVE HAD TO INCREASE THE FUNDRAISING TARGET. PLEASE SEE OUR THANK YOU IN THE BOX BELOW.

We are appealing for funds to help a homeless couple in our hometown of Spalding, Lincolnshire. Their names are Jason and Jane. In a moment you can read about their plight in Jason’s own words, but first, more about this appeal.

We are aiming to raise enough money, for a few months rent, to enable Jason and Jane to be able to secure accommodation. We are running this appeal online for 7 weeks because we want to see them with a roof over their heads before Christmas. Once they have an address, they can access other areas of help currently not available to them. These include being able to register with a local doctors practice and receiving benefits. These are the first and most important factors, to allow them to get their feet back on the ladder, so to speak. We are appealing at the same time, through a local newspaper and also asking for landlords to come forward who have reasonably priced accommodation to let. This also includes owners of residential static caravan parks in the locality who may have a caravan for rent. We are aiming to make this into a community project, where individuals or groups can join us in making all of this possible, by organising their own fund-raising, through projects such as coffee mornings, sponsored walks etc. Being good neighbours to one another is very important. There will shortly, in about 2 weeks time, be a bank Treasurers’ Account available for donations to be paid into. Details to follow.

Now, please read in Jason’s own words, about his and Jane’s situation.

“We are Jane and Jason. We have been living in a tent in Spalding since the end of August 2017. We have been homeless since losing our tenancy earlier in the year because we was not aware we could claim housing benefit to help with our rent arrears, as we were both on a very low income. Our situation has become so bad as we have no local connection to the area, so cannot get emergency help for accommodation and we are now left to survive on the street by Jane trying to sell her knitting and myself doing my art work, weather permitting.

Because with no address and ID we cannot get a doctors surgery to allow us to join, meaning we have no medication for our illnesses and sick notes for benefits. Jane suffers from depression and has on-going arthritis and I have had major surgery on a broken leg that happened finding somewhere to sleep in an empty building. I also suffer from epilepsy.

We was in a temporary hostel in Peterborough, but was evicted for having a toaster in our room, even though there was no rules saying we couldn’t have and we was not told that we wasn’t allowed to do so. Life in a tent is difficult and on two occasions now, we have gone back to it being vandalised. Our property destroyed and our food and clothes thrown all around the area. Our health is now suffering and it’s the generosity of the passing public each day that help us survive and eat and keep ourselves.”

Please find it in your hearts to help this couple secure accommodation before Christmas by giving whatever you can afford to give. Between us, let’s make Christmas 2017 a warm, happy and secure one for them. Thank you.