A (more than) fortnightly update! 20/11/17 – 08/12/17

OPENING WEEKEND WINTER 2017/18

Last weekend was our first weekend open for the 2017/2018 winter. We had 5 different guests stay with us over the weekend in total, and we were able to provide a hot meal and support to another which is fantastic for our first weekend of the year! A huge thank you to all our volunteers who were on shift for showing such warm welcome and hospitality, and also to our cooks who made such delicious meals for our guests to enjoy.

AWARDS & GRANTS

Last Wednesday, 29th November, Jackie and Kate were invited to the Expert Citizens’ Insight Conference after being nominated as part of the “Learning from people” category for their work with night shelter. Expert Citizens is a fantastic group (part of VOICES of Stoke) which is made up of individuals who use their lived experience of multiple complex needs to improve the lives of others who are experiencing similar challenges. Although we didn’t win, it was wonderful to have the work of night shelter recognized in this way and to learn so much from others at the conference.

Secondly, The Staffordshire Foundation is an organisation which looks after a number of small trust funds within the area and is responsible for awarding financial grants to local community groups. We were thrilled to receive an award of £1,000 to further support the work of the night shelter this winter. Many thanks to Rev Chris Ambler for attending the presentation event yesterday at Port Vale Football Club and receiving our award.

DONATIONS UPDATE

We have had a number of very generous donations from a range of organisations and individuals over the past few weeks for which we are extremely grateful. It would be impossible to name everyone but here are a couple of groups that have supported us most recently:
– 1st Fegg Hayes Boys Brigade and Girls Association. A huge thank you for your wonderful donations of gloves, scarves, hats and socks. These will be very warmly received by our guests this winter.
– Kidsgrove Brownies & Rainbows. Another big thank you  for organising a collection to support the work of night shelter.
– Wetley Rocks Methodist Church. We are so grateful for your financial support this winter which will go a long way in enabling us to support our guests beyond the three nights of accommodation we offer.

ANY OTHER BUSINESS

EVENT: Tonight, Saturday 9th December, 7pm at Tunstall Methodist Church – Nicki Nicholls will be speaking about her journey from homelessness to fundraiser and campaigner. It would be fantastic to see as many folk there as possible so please come along and support this event this evening.

Don’t forget you can still choose us to be your “local cause” to support every time you visit a Co-op shop! Choose your cause here: https://www.coop.co.uk/membership/local-community-fund

If you are interested in volunteering with us, we are looking to organise another volunteer event in early January due to such large interest. Please keep an eye on our Facebook page to find out more in due course.

STCCNS: MID-PROJECT SUMMARY

Stoke-on-Trent Churches Community Night Shelter has now been open for nine weeks during the 2016/2017 winter. We recently prepared a project summary for the city’s Homelessness Forum last week and thus we thought we would share this information with all of our supporters.

All of this information refers to the period between Friday 2nd December 2016- Sunday 29th January 2017.

• 36 different guests have accessed the night shelter for at least one night.
• 7 guests are now in more permanent accommodation including 90 Hope Street and Salvation Army Hostels, The Lyme Trust, RESTART properties and private rented accommodation. We have also been able to provide emergency Bed & Breakfast provision for 9 guests.
• These guests have been referred from 9 different agencies: Hanley Police Station, Burslem Police Station, Leek Police Station, Brighter Futures’ Rough Sleepers Team, Voices, The Macari Centre, The WALK Project, EDT and Hanley Baptist Church.
• 61 different volunteers have worked on a night shelter shift and 22 different cooks have provided evening meals. That’s 83 people and counting from the Stoke-on-Trent community caring for those sleeping rough in our city!

These basic statistics really emphasise the community nature of the night shelter project and we hope to build on this further as we continue to support the homeless within Stoke-on-Trent.

A Fortnightly Update! 07/11/16-20/11/16

What’s been happening in the last couple of weeks, I hear you ask?

Training Session #2 – Led by Toni at the YMCA 

Our second volunteer training session was fantastic, with around 30 volunteers coming along again including some new faces! Nicky Twemlow was set to host the training but was called away at the last moment so a huge thank you to Toni for stepping in and delivering a really useful session on professional boundaries and issues related to this theme. We’ve had some great feedback that we can build on for next year.

Outstanding Achievement Award – Expert Citizens Group 

We are thrilled to have been nominated for an outstanding achievement award from Voices’ Expert Citizens group. Considering we have only been operating for less than a year, this is a really rewarding and encouraging recognition. As a result of this nomination, we have been invited to attend the Expert Citizens’ Insight Conference and Awards Ceremony in December. We’ll be sure to update everyone on what we learn from this event in due course.

Team Leaders Get Together

Last week, our night shelter team leaders got together for some more in depth training and preparation for opening. The team leaders are committed to making a difference and we are so grateful to them for taking on this role.