Night Shelter thanks Rotary Club for £875 donation

By Jamie Hill - 24 May 2020

Charity

Swindon Night Shelter, which helps support the homeless and vulnerable families of Swindon, has thanked The Rotary Club of Swindon Old Town and its Satellite club members for their donation of £875 from their dining fees. The charity wrote a letter of thanks to the Rotary Club which said:

Firstly I would like to sincerely thank you for your kind donation to our charity, your kind contribution has come at an operationally unprecedented time for us here at Swindon Night Shelter.  We have been serving rough sleepers in the town now since 2008 when a group of Christians felt called to set up a weekly night shelter (hence the charity name). 
 
The charity has steadily grown over the years and now is a wide reaching and well known presence in the town and reaches people through five main aspects:
 
The Haven Day Centre – a place where individuals can walk in, have a hot meal (breakfast & lunch).
The Hub Shop & Café  - our “social enterprise” element of the charity thus the main funding contributor to the good work we do with our guests.  A place where the public can come and buy essentials at a discounted price or just have a coffee and socialise.
The Gate Cafes – we have five “pop-up” cafes in the community strategically placed around the town, the vision underpinning this is to meet people where they may feel isolated or vulnerable.  An affordable breakfast is provided and again a place where you can reach out services.
Friday Night Shelter -  Our walk up weekly night shelter where rough sleepers can come and have rest, a shower, meal and access clothing.
The Hive (Warehouse) – we work closely with partnership agencies to provide work placements (including unpaid work orders) for those needing to experience the working pattern in the build up to re-integration into the community.  This is also where we distribute and manage our charitable surplus.
 
As with so much of our known world right now all of our normal services have ceased, but we are serving the town from afar during this pandemic:
 
  • Food Parcel Provision – We are now approaching 500 adults and 200 children whom we have served in the community with food, toys and toiletry items! Accepting referrals from over 20 different agencies we are making fresh food parcels for the community, this can range from individuals to large families.
  • Guest Outreach – we are still calling and supporting the 198 guests we have on file here, offering emotional support at this time and sending out provision where there is a need. 
 
We thank you again for your donation at this time, we are doing all we can to assure that our food provision and outreach work remains up and running at this time.  Your donation gives us further comfort that we are able to keep going and purchase those crucial items which enables the operation to keep going!

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