Helping the homeless

Homeless people in Christchurch will have a more comfortable Christmas thanks to their council officers.

Staff at the civic offices responded to calls for help from colleagues who were aware of the number of homeless people in the area, particularly at this dark and cold time of year. Clothing, books and toiletries were donated and some people even gave money instead of sending Christmas cards to colleagues.

Enough was given to provide more than 65 large parcels of new clothes, a thermos flask and sachets of coffee, milk and sugar, cereal and chocolate bars, as well as miniature toiletries.

Jan Collins, housing support officer at the council, who spearheaded the campaign, said: “I used to work directly with the homeless and organised this sort of campaign then. I know how much homeless people appreciated these parcels, so I decided to organise a campaign this year in my spare time.

“Staff here at the council have been brilliant as they have donated so much. I’ve also had donations from friends and family and I did some fundraising in my local pub.

“Most of the parcels will be going to the Winterwatch Project at St Paul’s night shelter in Bournemouth where people from Christchurch, Bournemouth and Poole can go. We will also personally be distributing coats and thermal wear to people who we know will be sleeping rough over Christmas.

“As a council we do what we can to help homeless people, but it’s not always possible to help people with accommodation due to the limited stock in the borough and a high number of people on the waiting list.”

Jan parceled up the donations with help of fellow Housing Support Officer Lynne McCarty and a friend, Jeanette Spenceley, who donated her time for a day.