A CHARITY that helps rough sleepers get off the streets and start a new home has been given a generous cash boost from the Gannett Foundation.

Bournemouth-based Faithworks Wessex provides home starter kits for homeless people once they are in accommodation provided by organisations such as Bournemouth Churches Housing Association, Hope Housing and YMCA Bournemouth.

From new bedding to crockery, the charity helps people make a fresh start by allowing them to purchase home essentials.

The Gannett Foundation has donated £6,000 to the charity, which will help buy 100 home starter kits worth £60 each. It is the charitable arm of Gannett Co Inc, owner of Newsquest Media Group, which publishes the Daily Echo and other local newspapers, websites and magazines across the country.

CEO of Faithworks Wessex, Alistair Doxat-Purser said the kits were “key” in helping people rebuild their lives and stay off the street.

“Moving into accommodation where you’ve just got a table and a chair is pretty grim, and for some folk it’s no encouragement to stay in a place like that when it doesn’t fully feel like a home.

“What we’ve recognised is if we provide some kits that turn those four walls into somewhere that feels like home then people will be more likely to stay in that accommodation because there’s a feeling of life to it and a feeling of hope, which is what we’re all about at Faithworks.

“Our ultimate aim is to help these people get other parts of their life back together so they are more likely to stay off the street.”

The charity launched the kits around nine months ago and have provided 25 so far.

David Chidwick, a homelessness worker for the charity, said: “Rather than give people a set of stuff that’s pre-bought, with this donation the individual will be able to choose how that £60 is spent – it’s part of getting their dignity back.”

He added: “One would hope after six months of support, they’d be back into mainstream society, but sometimes a person might be out within a month or less than that.”

The charity coordinates a four-stage programme called Bournemouth Christians Alongside Rough Sleepers, which provides homeless people with ‘practical, relational and spiritual support’.

“The ultimate goal is to provide rough sleepers with a place of hope and opportunity, as well as the practical support to help them develop new skills and find accommodation," Alistair said.