A Kingston homeless charity is seeking donations for its night shelter in St Peter’s Church Hall in Surbiton, which provides 30 bed spaces for male and female rough sleepers.
Kingston Churches Action on Homelessness (KCAH) is accepting donations of sleeping bags, rucksacks, underwear and shoes especially for men and is always looking for volunteers.
The charity has collected over 30 sleeping bags so far through church donations and local businesses such as Banquet Records and Winkorth Estate Agents who are big supporters of the charity.
Night Shelter Co-ordinator Sophie Mayor said: “We need lots of man, woman, person power to run it so it’s great to see other local businesses such as restaurants wanting to provide meals.”
Building a supportive relationship with local people and businesses is key to the success of the night shelter. With the spike of rough sleepers in Kingston, KCAH, also want to use the night shelter to raise awareness to the housing advice that they offer.
Family-owned business 7000 jars of beer is also collecting sleeping bags for those sleeping rough in Kingston. The popular Kingston bar was used as a collection point because of its central location in Kingston.
As temperatures begin to drop, Kingston Council has put in place a severe weather emergency procedure to prevent the death of people sleeping rough during the winter.
A Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government report on rough sleeping across London, show that 4,677 people were found sleeping rough in England on a single night in autumn 2018.
Anyone interested in helping or donating can contact KCAH.
