Rev Lucy Holt (Rector of St James’ Poole, Rural Dean & Routes to Roots’ Trustee) successfully completed the last 5km of this momentous endeavour on 22 December 2018. Her aim was to raise awareness and money for the R2R Christmas appeal. She ran a total of 55km in Poole over Advent (11 x 5km) to mark the journey of Mary and Joseph from Nazareth to Bethlehem.
In October Nationwide Building Society launched a practical partnership with St Mungo’s aimed at providing a consistent and compassionate response to people rough sleeping on the high street – and is urging other businesses to follow suit. The Society is the leading sponsor and member of HomelessWise, a community of high street member organisations managed by St Mungo’s.
The HomelessWise initiative will provide online and offline expertise and resources to help staff in Nationwide branches to respond in practical and meaningful ways to those who are rough sleeping. This includes appropriate referrals to StreetLink – an app and weblink designed to alert local authorities to people sleeping rough in England and Wales – as well as awareness-raising for other homelessness services and local support groups. In addition, St Mungo’s has developed specialist training for Nationwide staff members, to give them the confidence to provide the right response to those sleeping rough and needing help.
Businesses interested in HomelessWise, can find out more at:
http://www.mungos.org/homelesswise
Like a Bridge Over Troubled Water*
Our patron, The Right Reverend Karen Gorham, successfully completed this 24k walk across 16 iconic London bridges in September, raising £1260 for Routes to Roots. “As Bishop of Sherborne in Dorset with an area of oversight which covers Poole I am proud to be Patron of Routes to Roots – a fantastic homeless charity making a real difference to the lives of those who find themselves homeless.
“Over the course of the day we walked into London ending at Southwark Bridge. Each bridge crossing reminded us of the bridges which need to be crossed to bring dignity and hope to the homeless.”
* Simon & Garfunkel
…When you’re down and out
When you’re on the street
When evening falls so hard
I will comfort you (ooo)
I’ll take your part, oh, when darkness comes
And pain is all around
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down…
Donations & Fundraising
• Albion Language Tours: £100
• Asda carol singing: £244.82
• Baden-Powell Junior School: £274.21
• Bankes Charity Cup: £1000
• Broadstone Methodist Church: £990.13
• Broadstone Townswomen: £30
• CAF: £150
• Canford Magna Church: £110
• Catholic Women’s League: £83
• Christchurch Creekmoor: £100
• Colehill First School Harvest: £201.59
• Foundry Arms: £115
• Hayeswood First School: £214.36
• Holtwood Church Council: £50
• Holy Angels’ Church: 89.50
• Homeless Sunday Service: £182.30
• Longfleet Primary School: £803.25
• Luminos: £685.04
• LV: £1,100
• Poole Bay Rotary Club: £2188.47
• Poole Grammar School: £222.75
• Poole Printmakers: £308.50
• Quakers: £300
• Romsey Rotary: £135.22
• St James Old Town: £5,000+ from a sleep-out
• St John’s Ashley Road choir: £104
• St John’s Broadstone: £780
• St John’s Heatherlands: £260.80
• St Mary’s & St Anthony’s of Padua: £300
• St Mary’s Longfleet: £2762.81
• St Michael’s & St Gabriel’s: £45
• St Michael’s CofE Middle School: £261.50
• St Joseph’s Nursery: £200
• TSB Bank: £300
• Verwood URC: £235.68
• Waitrose carol singing: £71.16
• WH Smith Trust: £100
Individuals
• £2731.14
• Laura’s Tombola stalls: £1884.48
• The Burdons’ Dorset Doddle walk: £365
• Adrienne’s carol singing: £100
Food
• Dorset Pizza Kitchen: pizzas at a November Drop-in
• Kingsbere Kitchen: brought their burger van to a Christmas Drop-in for the third time
• Koh Thai: Thai end-of-year meal at a Drop-in
• Lakeside Fish & Chips: half-price chips at a Drop-in
• Merlin Entertainment staff: sponsored all the food for Christmas Day Lunch, sent in gifts and decorated the hall
Donations in kind
• Big Yellow, Poole: storage space valued at £2000
• Ceuta Healthcare: printing
• URC Skinner Street: subsidised premise hire
In response to the decision made by Poole Council on 13 March that its PSPO will be implemented on 16 April for a period of three years, Rev Pat Southgate Chair of Routes to Roots, spoke to the BBC: “In light of the decision made by Poole council last night with regard to the PSPO I would like to say that Routes to Roots are no longer surprised by any decision the council make regarding the homeless in Poole.
“Once again we are appalled by the way in which this measure shows complete lack of care or compassion for the growing number of people, many with a local connection to Poole, who are having to sleep on our streets or in our car parks. Many of these people are having to beg in order to survive.
“This measure does nothing to help these most vulnerable people find a solution to help meet their needs: it merely puts them at risk of being criminalised for being poor.”
“Why not join us on Saturday 9th December 10 pm at St James Church in Poole Old Town. Spend a night sleeping outside in solidarity with our friends who are homeless: raising awareness and also vital funds for Routes to Roots’ Winter appeal. Last year we raised £1,055 and we are looking for new fundraisers to take on the challenge on this cold December night, and hopefully will beat that amount!
“It will provide a small insight into what it might be like to be without a safe place to call home, and having to rely on the support of others.
“You will need to bring a warm sleeping bag and lots of layers. We suggest bringing a ground sheet or some cardboard to sleep on, and some waterproof sheeting or a survival bag.
“It would be great to have lots of churches represented. Hopefully see you there!”
If you have any questions about the sleep out or would like to join in, please contact Rev. Chris Harwood on 0781 3782 801.
For more information, or to donate go to:
https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/R2Rwinterappeal
Download the latest edition of our Newsletter!
On a March Monday the Toothbus parked up in Skinner Street, Poole to provide free dental check ups at the Routes to Roots homeless drop-in. This gave homeless and vulnerably housed people in Poole the opportunity to see a dentist for a check-up. It can be difficult to look after your dental health if you’re homeless. Karen, “I was really nervous about seeing a dentist because I know I need some work done, but the Toothbus dentist was very friendly and put me at ease. They also gave me some great advice”
There are a lot of health problems that are exacerbated by poor dental health eg. heart conditions, diabetes and pneumonia. Poor dental health can also affect how someone feels about themselves, so it’s important that everyone has easy access to NHS dental treatment.
R2R Chairman Rev Pat Southgate explained: “We support a number of homeless people who have been refused urgent dental care in the past because they weren’t registered with a dentist. We’re very grateful to Healthwatch Dorset for organising this Toothbus visit; it’s provided a safe place for the people we work with to get a dental check.”
The Toothbus Manager, Angie Naughton told us: “We’d like to thank Healthwatch Dorset & Routes to Roots for a great afternoon. The dentist saw 10 patients at the event and everyone received details of how to register with a local dentist for ongoing treatment.
The Toothbus is available to everyone. It usually parks up in Poole High Street on Mondays and in Boscombe High Street on Fridays. So, if you haven’t seen a dentist in 2 years or more – pop down and see them.
Rev Chris Harwood from St James, Poole, has organised a Sleep-Out to raise funds for R2R. It will take place on Saturday 17th December outside St James Church in Poole, officially starting at 9.00pm though the organisers will be there earlier to set up. You can join in or support them.
Some people will sleep under the stars/tarpaulin; others will bring tents. Those sleeping under the stars will need to bring cardboard to protect themselves from the cold ground. There will be hot drinks and food provided.
Chris is hoping to raise £400 to keep our homeless friends safe and warm this winter. Please help them achieve this or, even better, exceed the target.
Forecast for that evening is 5 degrees, very windy with rain, so those sleeping out will be earning your support!
A Just Giving page has been set up to encourage people to give on FaceBook and spread the message further:
https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/R2Rsleepout/
R2R Newsletter Spring 2017