The charity is seeking local support this month and into the new year
A local charity has appealed for volunteers to help run its emergency shelter as the cold weather season kicks in.
Kingston Churches Action on Homelessness (KCAH), a charity which works to house people experiencing homelessness in the borough, is hoping to help people sleeping rough during very cold weather this winter.
This year the charity is opening a 30-bed emergency shelter for five months to house people during what it terms as severe weather protocol or SWEP.
The organisation needs volunteers to help run this programme. This could involve registering people into the shelter, serving meals or simply engaging and talking with the residents.
The shelter will open in early December at EnhanceAble on Geneva Road.
Paul Seymour, communications and marketing manager at KCAH said: ”The winter shelter is as much about feeling safe for the night as it is about feeling warm for the night and our volunteers offer that. Just knowing that somebody caring is there can make a huge difference.”
Emergency shelter will be offered to anyone who needs it, helping to prevent serious harm or death from the cold. Seymour said that those particularly at risk included homeless people without familial support.
”Our remit is particularly single people; these are people without a tribe and so we become their family,” he said. ”The leading cause of homelessness is a family breakdown, so when people come to us for help and support, we are more than just facilitators.”
Additionally, the charity is taking donations of £10 to light up its virtual Christmas tree. For every £10 donated, another light on this tree is lit, marking a step closer to the fundraising goal of £10,000.
Seymour said, ”A £10 donation could provide a coffee or a snack and a warm place to charge your phone or an Oyster card top up. Every donation makes a massive difference to the work we do here.”
If you would like more information on the services KCAH provide and how you can get involved, please click here.
