How you can help provide hope for the homeless (From Bournemouth Echo)

How you can help provide hope for the homeless

4:00pm Saturday 9th March 2013 in News By Caitlin Marsh

THE Do It For Dorset Campaign is a joint initiative between the Daily Echo and the Dorset Community Foundation – a registered charity dedicated to promoting charitable giving and grant making for charities and community groups across the county.

The Foundation works with secret millionaires, family businesses, and companies, who want to give back to their community, and the Do It for Dorset Campaign raises awareness and funds for charities signed up to Localgiving.com Hope HTS provides housing, training and support for single homeless individuals aged 18-65 in Bournemouth.

Their aim is to enable clients to move forward into independent living, eg, non-supported accommodation and into employment.

They currently house 60 vulnerable people, amounting to 150 per year, with multiple issues including homelessness, ex-offenders, foster care or lack of adhesion with family, drug and alcohol abuse, and mild mental health problems.

Hope clients are provided with one to one support from trained counselling and support workers who do a fantastic job in helping them overcome the many personal issues they face.

They also equip residents with budgeting skills, applying for funds, claiming benefits they are entitled to and other issues unique to the individual.

Additionally, Hope has a large garden area where they encourage residents to maintain and grow fruit and vegetables, which are later harvested and cooked.

Clients also have the opportunity of using the gym in Hope’s flagship site, St John’s Lodge, to enable them to exercise, decrease stress levels and improve their health.

Where an individual’s needs cannot be met by their services, they signpost them to other agencies within the local community which are able to provide the assistance needed.

Examples of how your donation can help:

• £10 pays for a meal in the shelter
• £30 pays for a worker for two hours
• £100 pays for a day of workshops

To support the charity, go to Localgiving.com/charity/hopehts Main contact is Sam Roubaiey, Fundraising Manager, on 01202 556280 or email Sami@hopehts.com If you are a charity, sports club, village hall or a community group and would like to join the Do It for Dorset campaign, please contact our Localgiving.com Manager, Tracy Melling, on 01202 315952.