As we approach the Christmas period, we are often asked how our clients manage over this particularly tricky time. We’ve taken a few commonly asked questions and we hope that this will give you an insight into some of the things we are doing over the coming weeks to help those in need!
Christmas plans… and Sunday opening!
We have some special days lined up for clients in the lead up to Christmas.
- We have a visit from the kind folks at Trilby’s on the 9th December for clients to have their monthly hair cut or perhaps have a new style for Christmas, organised by the team at Julian House.
- On the 16th December we have our Christmas meal hosted by the Basingstoke & Deane Rotary – open to clients, staff and invited guests. All clients will receive a wrapped gift – kindly being donated by our local Morrison’s, Asda and Tesco stores.
- On the 23rd December Ro’s Café on the Go are coming with their van to provide hot drinks and snacks to the clients which is a lovely treat.
- As well as our usual opening hours on Tuesday, Thursdays and Fridays we are now also open to clients on Sundays 12-3pm until the end of February.
How are homeless and vulnerably housed clients supported over Christmas?
As well as our sessions at The Camrose, there are a host of volunteers from the Winter Night Light Shelter project, helping us to provide help and support every day of the week during the winter months. Each of these sessions will include hot meals, games, chat and of course help and advice. While Camrose will remain open access within the capacity of Glebe Hall, the Monday, Wednesday and Saturday will be for referred guests only.
- Monday evening – Glebe Hall (Night Light Winter Shelter service)
- Tuesday – The Camrose Centre
- Wednesday evening – The Salvation Army Hall (Night Light Winter Shelter service)
- Thursday – The Camrose Centre
- Friday – The Camrose Centre
- Saturday lunchtime – St Michael’s Church Cottage
- Sunday – The Camrose Centre
Currently, because of the small number of people in emergency accommodation the Night Shelter team are providing a hot meal service to people in emergency accommodation instead of opening premises – this may change as the season moves forward. The Night Shelter team work with referred guests only, Camrose remains open access to all within the capacity of the hall.
What will clients do on Christmas Day?
There will be our regular Saturday provision (for referred clients) in Church Cottage on Christmas Day including Christmas lunch and entertainment. Some guests will choose to be alone (for varying reasons), and Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council will endeavor to make sure no one is sleeping out rough over Christmas or the wider winter period.
We will be open on 26th December and continue our normal pattern of open access support from then on.
Big Winter Fundraiser
We have just launched our Big Winter Fundraiser – with the aim of raising £5000 to support the running of our Centre over this busy period. We’d be very grateful if you’d consider donating, and sharing our campaign on your social media pages. The link to copy is here:
Donations of food and other supplies
Items we are most regularly in need of can be found on our website here. Meat is always something we are in need of, as are sacks of potatoes and fresh vegetables.
We’d like to take this opportunity to wish all our supporters a very Merry Christmas! Please let us know if you have any questions!
