A charity in Medway has opened a homeless emergency winter refuge in Chatham, Kent.
One big family, which supported homeless people since 2020, provided over 200 beds in last two weeks in Emmaus Church, Chatham.
They helped over 57 people from the start of January till today.
Operational support manager, Marc Silvester, said: “I’ve experienced homelessness myself and nearly 80% of our volunteers had the same experiences before, so we can understand how hard it is to sleep outside in cold winter and we feel sympathetic.
“We want them to sleep in a warm and safe place.”
Mr. Silvester said there has been a noticeable increase in the number of homeless individuals seeking shelter this year, with approximately 25 people came to the night shelter just last week.
The charity also provides accommodations, a home starter pack and weekly delivery of food parcels and essentials to people in need who are referred by other agencies.
“We have a really good team and I really appreciate that, without them we can’t do all this and help more people, but we do feel overwhelmed sometimes because we need to pay for many things such as the heating while taking care of not only homeless people but also out team members,” said Marc.
High quality donations such as clothes and beddings are needed, and contact info@helpingthehomeless.org.uk if you wish to help.
