Services that support homeless people with complex needs are more and more about individuals donating their time. Rather than hand outs of food or clothing, Services are increasingly in need of people who can engage with residents, and who can provide additional support or expertise for our residents, helping them to learn and develop life skills.
There are many ways you can make a difference to someone’s life – whether that’s by giving them a friendly ear, some compassion and understanding, giving your skillset to help them learn something new, or even giving them short-term space in your home.
The service you volunteer at will be able to plan your involvement around the skills and experience you can provide. We all have something we’re good at that we can share! For example, you might find yourself getting involved in:
- Cooking
- Computing and IT
- Mentoring
- Arts and crafts sessions
- Gardening
If you are interested in volunteering at one of the services we work with, please send an enquiry direct to:
- Riverside Care & Support – nationwide supported housing
- Light Project Peterborough – Peterborough winter church shelter
- Holy Trinity Night Shelter – Bishops Stortford church shelter, Herts
- Thanet Winter Shelter – Ramsgate winter church shelter
- Camden winter shelter C4WS Homeless Project is looking for volunteers. They say:
Camden Winter Shelter C4WS Homeless Project is looking for volunteers, as well as hosts for their Hosts for Home project. They said:
‘We are looking for people who might have spare rooms in their home to host guests from our winter night shelter for a short term interim period whilst we are working on securing their housing.
This might be a guest who is working and just needs a stable bed and a bit more time to save for a deposit; an asylum seeker waiting for a decision on their case; or someone who’s housing is ready for them to move into but they just need an extra week or two before they can get in.
Hosting is a fun experience which can be mutually beneficial for everyone – we currently have a superb Iranian cook staying with a family for whom he cooks delicious Persian dishes!’
Guests who are hosted continue to work with C4WS to ensure a quick move on and hosts are supported by experienced staff throughout the process. Subsistence grants are also available to help with any additional costs.
Contact sam@c4wshomelessproject.org for more information.