Are you homeless or at risk of homelessness in Southend? Chat to us now, get help online or call 01702 615000
Christmas Appeal 2022
Will you show someone like Kim you care this Christmas with a gift of just £10?
Christmas is a special time of year for everyone, and it's particularly important to us at HARP.
Many people struggling with homelessness have already been through enough without a safe place to live. And no one should have to cope with such misery and stress – let alone at this time of year.
Christmas is regarded as the season of giving and spending time with loved ones, so we ask you to please spare a thought – and if you can, a donation – for local people experiencing homelessness like Kim this Christmas.
Just £10 can bring a little Christmas cheer for those, like Kim, who have been through a traumatic time.
By donating to HARP this Christmas, you will provide so much more than a Christmas meal – you will give local people experiencing homelessness compassion, safety and a friendly smiling face throughout the festive period and beyond.
“It was horrible, especially being on the street and out in the weather, not knowing where you are and going from night to night”
Kim had been rough sleeping for about five years after losing her house due to excessive drinking, trying her best to cope with past trauma and block out the world around her.
Every year, HARP support on average around 1,000 local people who are homeless or at risk of losing their home. Can you help us make sure that people like Kim can be safe and warm this Christmas and throughout the year?
Support someone like Kim this Christmas by making a donation today.
“I was always worried about safety because of the way I drank. Sometimes I wouldn’t have a clue what was going on and that was really scary but that was all I knew”
Despite engaging in HARP’s services and accessing the support at the Bradbury Day Centre, Kim’s binge drinking meant she was not able to be housed for longer than a month.
In 2020 Kim was finally moved to one of our properties where she met her key worker Katie. Initially she found it hard to trust other people and did not want to change or become abstinent. Kim remembers how she felt when she was first offered accommodation.
During her time at HARP Kim recalls what her Christmas days were like.
“I spent 4 or 5 Christmases at HARP. They would always put on a good Christmas Day for the people that didn’t have any family or anywhere to go, dress the rooms up and do us a nice dinner.”
After some extremely hard work and some emotional highs and lows, Kim worked with Katie and engaged with HARP partner agencies, eventually going to Rehab in February 2022.
“It was a huge weight lifted! It gave me that safe place”
“The turning point was a car accident I was in last year. My son turned around to me and said, ‘I nearly didn’t have a mum’ and that absolutely broke me. That’s when I realised how bad I was actually getting and that I needed to change.”
“HARP always gave me a chance, they always took me back, never turned me away – they saw something in me"
Now, thanks to the support she has received, which is only possible because of donations from people like you, Kim has turned her life around. Kim is now 8 months sober and has relocated to a totally new area where she is completing a college course in Health and Social Care. Kim wants to use her experiences to help others and even volunteers at a local food bank.
Kim is also still in regular contact with her key worker Katie. “She’s been a massive help just putting up with me!"
“I’ve got some good friends that I made through HARP, some that I still speak to. Sometimes it’s nice to talk to people going through the same thing as you.”
And Katie is just as glowing about Kim’s progress:
“Kim and I are still in contact, we call and text almost every week and I am so proud of Kim and what she has achieved, she is now the best version of herself and she worked so hard for that. She has a future now, one she never thought she would have. I wish there was a better word for it other than proud but I am proud of her, she deserves this chance.”
All of our 264 residents who, without HARP, might be sleeping rough this Christmas - and those we support who are still sleeping on the streets - are offered a festive meal, festive activities and a Christmas present over the Christmas period, as well as the long term support they need to overcome homelessness. This can only happen thanks to your support.
Show your support to more people like Kim this Christmas by donating to our Christmas Appeal.
Support someone like Kim this Christmas by making a donation today.
Donations to our Christmas appeal will help us to provide meals, entertainment, activities and much-needed care and support to local homeless people over the Christmas period and beyond. All donations will be spent where we feel the need is greatest. Many people like to support HARP with non-monetary gifts at Christmas time. Click here to find out more about the items we need to provide presents for local homeless people, and to support our efforts over the festive period.