Helping Our Homeless

You may have noticed how we showed our support of the NHS by having our Bear signs outside properties stating ‘THANK YOU NHS’ and we are now ready to go one step further.

Bear wants to raise awareness and money for our homeless in our locality and we plan to do this in a simple way in which anybody can get involved.

We have recently commissioned a new Bear Sales Board for erecting outside our 'For Sale' properties. This board also gives us the opportunity to promote awareness by adding the statement ‘Helping our Homeless’ across it (even if you are not selling a property). The idea is that for every property owner that agrees to have one of these boards outside their property for 12 weeks, we will donate £30 to one of the charities listed below, of their choice. This does, of course, only apply to people who are NOT selling their property but are happy to support us in this campaign!

We have chosen three local charities whom we feel, not only have roots in our area but are helping people directly, out on the streets. And you can read about them below.

Off the Streets charity reg.11843

This is an incredible charity in Westcliff which actually does what its name suggests and gets homeless people off of the streets. Run by volunteers who build up trust with rough sleepers with nowhere to go, in order to keep them safe and warm, they not only set up a house for them to go to but now, incredibly, are about to open a new 8 roomed property to increase the help and support they give. Homeless people are reached by this charity by literally being on the streets and by word of mouth.

Off the Streets is a grass roots charity that felt more needed to be done to help the rough sleepers and to help give them a better chance to move along their journey. We opened up a night shelter with the motto `a stepping stone and not a stopping point`. Ever since then we have worked to help our guests get housed and lead successful lives, In the first year of opening we were awarded the Housing Justice Kitemark at Excellence Standard and we become a registered charity (1184331). We also run a food bank to help those in need. To date we have housed 119 rough sleepers into permanent accommodation and continue to support them as they start their new journey .

Please read all about them at offthestreetsessex.org.uk and you will see how a grass roots charity is going from strength to strength with its community’s support.

One Love Soup Kitchen Southend charity reg.1189782

This charity is out there, hands on, doing what they can to provide food and clothing, emotional and mental support wherever they can build trust, to deal with the trauma often suffered by people living on the streets. The task is huge, not only depending on food and clothing donations, but also a place where food can be prepared, and clothing kept dry.

They aim to break the homelessness cycle by working together with other local services and partnerships within the local community to ensure that people, with all their complex needs, are pointed in the right direction to help that is available.

One result of the Covid epidemic has been that needs of the community have changed, in which local families have also needed support as they suffer from extreme economic hardship. One Love has evolved and adapted in order to help these families too. This is a chilling reminder that homelessness can come to anybody in an age of lost employment and the stress that causes, which can easily spiral out of control.

Look at what they are doing right now on their Facebook page One Love Soup Kitchen City of Southend.