Bitterly cold weather triggered SWEP (Severe Weather Emergency Provision) at the start of the New Year in Poole. St Mungo’s rough sleeper team provided shelter for 5 or 6 homeless people on 2 January 2019, for the first time at Skinner Street URC Hall instead of the less accessible out of town accommodation. Hot food was not available so Routes to Roots left packed lunches for them all for Wednesday and Thursday. As Friday night is an R2R drop-in evening, hot food was provided as usual. As temperatures rose above zero on week commencing 7 January, the rough sleeper team has had to deactivate SWEP until further notice.
Our new shower has been installed and is now in use by clients during drop-in hours. Previously their only access to a shower had been once a week at the Salvation Army, so this new facility is a real godsend. One client commented that he felt like a ‘new man’ and he promptly took advantage of an opportunity to have his hair cut as well. Many thanks to Skinner Street URC for allowing us to install the shower in their hall and to The Screwfix Foundation and Valentine Charitable Trust who provided all the money. Tom Belmont, Manager of Screwfix at Creekmoor, presented Pat and Susan with a cheque for £1000 and took a look at how we have spent Screwfix’s money.
Pics by Samantha Cook Photography, 4th June 2018. The Screwfix Foundation donation to Routes to Roots (Poole), Skinner Street URC, Poole, Dorset BH15 1RQ, towards a new shower in the church hall, for use by rough sleepers during drop-in hours. Pic: Screwfix Poole-Creekmoor Store Manager, Tom Belmont, presents cheque to the R2R Team: (right) Chair and Founder Trustee, Revd Pat Southgate, (left) Susan Gittins, Volunteer and R2R Publicity and Fundraising.
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.”
R2R currently are the only help to people who would otherwise be dying of exposure on the streets of Poole this week. On 2 March the Salvation Army was unable to get into Poole to provide their weekly Friday breakfast for rough sleepers. R2R opened up and served poached egg on toast this morning! We were open again from 2.00-4.00pm and hope to have our regular drop in at 7.30pm.
Because of the severe weather the homeless, who accepted the offer, slept in the Skinner Street URC hall last night and will do so again this evening. Big thank you to the URC for enabling this to happen!
Calling all lovers of the Great British Breakfast, or croissants and pastries if you prefer.
Make a date with your friends this winter! Invite them round for breakfast in December, January or February. Ask them for a small contribution and donate the money you raise, no matter how large or small, to Routes to Roots’ annual Big Breakfast appeal.
For the seventh year, we are again joining forces with the Fisherman’s Café on Poole Quay to provide rough sleepers with a hot breakfast. Last year we offered this meal for 18 weeks, sustaining 52 individual homeless people, an increase of 11% over 2014-15. Each breakfast costs £4.50 to provide so this provision alone cost the charity £4054.50 (901 breakfasts eaten).
It costs £4.50 to provide a hot breakfast for a rough sleeper. Could you buy just one guy a breakfast for one day, or a whole week?
Breakfast provision continues to be an extremely important part of our outreach work to rough sleepers. This year we saw a rise in the numbers accessing this service, up by 11% to 52 individuals, and in the number of breakfasts claimed, up by 19% to 901, over the 18 weeks we offered the service. We know that homelessness is an issue across the country and Poole is no exception to the ever-increasing numbers who find themselves without permanent accommodation.
If you can help us maintain this service, please consider making a donation now for the coming winter.
Routes to Roots is delighted to thank a player from AFC Bournemouth for an amazing donation which he has specified is to fund our new supported housing, Amos House, over the coming year. Amos House has offered accommodation to three of Poole’s rough sleepers since last December. We are providing practical, emotional and spiritual support to them as they take this first step back into society, with the aim of eventually helping them to find independent housing. The house is an ongoing cost to Routes to Roots as we are responsible for upkeep, maintenance and other management expenses. So, this is very generous and R2R is very happy that this Premier League player has recognised the vital support we provide to serve the needs of homeless people of all faiths in Poole. Up the Cherries!
http://www.afcb.co.uk/
Many thanks to the Dorset Community Foundation who have awarded R2R a grant from the Salisbury Diocesan Social Welfare Fund: Round 1 January 2016 of £800. This will go towards the hot breakfast that we provide for verified rough sleepers in Poole through the Fisherman’s Cafe on Poole Quay. This is a very important service during the winter months, allowing the guys a few precious minutes in the warmth and hospitality of such a welcoming cafe.
http://www.dorsetcommunityfoundation.org
Christmas Day lunch saw 21 homeless and vulnerably housed people come along to enjoy a Christmas meal and quiz. They also received presents and other goodies donated by local churches, schools and individual well-wishers – a real ’12 Days of Christmas’ round of gifts though possibly more useful!
* Sarah and Joe of Kingsbere Kitchen again provided a burger and hot dog lunch for the guys on Xmas Eve.
* Waitrose donated a turkey for Christmas Day lunch.
* Asda customers filled a shopping cart with food and goodies.
* Poole Contact Centre gave us shoeboxes.
* Skinner Street URC congregation and neighbours brought in parcels and presents.
* Emmanuel Middle School Verwood Yr 7 sent us sleeping bags, gifts and packed bags.
* Event Alchemy brought in filled rucksacks and biscuits.
* Two Saints donated useful items for the ladies.
* Upton Methodists donated food and hats.
* The Rucksack project gave us filled rucksacks.
* St Mary’s Catholic Church donated clothes.
* St John’s, Ashley Road gave toiletries.
We have excellent news to share with you. Two rough sleepers moved into Amos House on Monday 7 December. On Monday 14 December, the third, and final tenant moved in. A long way to go for them and us but this is the beginning of a new future for the three guys. D has said that he can’t believe how great it feels to walk around town without having to carry all his worldly goods on his back.
More good news is that, thanks to all your support on the Starbucks Red Cup Challenge, we have been awarded £500 to help with the ongoing costs of keeping the house and the guys going.
We will continue to need money for this venture but want to thank you all for the support you have shown us.
Routes to Roots’ Trustees, volunteers and clients were delighted to welcome the Ven. Karen Gorham, Bishop Designate of Sherborne, at their drop-in on Thursday. Karen came to Poole specifically to meet them on the very day her appointment was announced by Number 10. This was a tremendous honour.
At the drop-in, among others, she met Steve, who spent five years sleeping on the streets before being helped into living independently by the charity – he has now lived in his own home for three years. She also met Eddie and Susan, volunteers who have cooked Christmas lunch for the clients every year for the past eight years.
Karen was also taken to Amos House, the charity’s new supported accommodation for three rough sleepers. She blessed the house, which will have its first occupants in a matter of days as final paperwork is completed.
Revd. Pat Southgate, chairman of Routes to Roots, said: “This was a wonderful day for all of us and we were really happy to be able to keep our drop-in open all afternoon for the clients. Before she left, Karen gave me an envelope, which I was delighted to find contained her completed Routes to Roots’ membership form and fee. She has also agreed to become a Patron. We look forward to seeing more of her as she settles into her new responsibilities.”
Karen’s consecration will take place on 24 February 2016 at Westminster Abbey before she joins the Diocese formally in March.
