Very many thanks to everyone at Hampstead Parish Church who contributed to last month`s appeal for items for C4WS Starter Packs. From items received and donations made, we were able to put together two Starter Packs, which will be there to welcome some of our homeless guests to a more permanent home.
C4WS is a night shelter for homeless men and women, run by seven churches in Camden and the City of London. It seeks to express the living Gospel, through the mutual love and friendship that comes from hospitality. It is open from 1st January to 31st March each year. The venue rotates from one church to the other, with each opening for one night a week.
From north to south, they are: the Beacon Church in Fleet Road, Our Lady Help of Christians in Lady Margaret Road, Trinity URC in Buck Street, The Upper Room of St Michael`s Camden Town, staffed by Our Lady of Hal in Arlington Road, St Mary Magdalene in Munster Square, Kings Cross Methodist Church, and the City Temple at Holborn Viaduct.
The scheme provides up to 14 bed-spaces a night, with separate accommodation for men and women. Guests are welcomed with an evening meal, hospitality and fellowship, and are given breakfast, and if they want, a packed lunch, before they leave the next day.
The scheme is financed entirely by voluntary donations. Each shelter is staffed by a team of 20 or more volunteers, working in shifts, who freely offer their time and resources. There are also two professional workers: a Co-ordinator, who receives referrals, places guests in the shelter and ensures the smooth running of the project, and an Advocate Worker who helps the guests make to plans for the future, to obtain identity papers, and to move to jobs or to more permanent accommodation. So far this season we have been able to resettle 12 homeless Guests, and to get two others back home overseas.
New tenancies sometimes fail in the early stages,when there are extra costs to be paid. We have set up a Rent Deposit scheme of interest-free loans, to help defray some of this cost. The Starter Packs are another important contribution, and make a real difference in helping a first-time tenant establish him or herself in a new home.
For more information about the shelter, please contact the Chair of the C4WS Committee, Bill Risebero, on 020 7482 1650, or at [email protected]
C4WS Camden and City Churches Cold Weather Shelter