Are you homeless or at risk of homelessness in Southend? Chat to us now, get help online or call 01702 615000
Christmas Appeal 2020
Text SAFE to 70460
to donate £10*
Text HAPPY to 70490
to donate £3 a month**
Will you show someone like Jess you care this Christmas with a gift of just £10?
“I deserve to be happy and I’m going to keep marching forward.”
This year, Christmas might feel a bit different to usual. But most of us can still look forward to a cosy festive break spent celebrating as best we can, in homes where we can feel safe, warm, and comforted.
Many people struggling with homelessness have already endured the coronavirus pandemic without a safe place to live. And now, Christmas will be spent in cramped bed and breakfasts, sleeping in cars, or in temporary precarious accommodation alone and isolated.
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 I ask you to please spare a thought – and if you can, a donation – for local homeless people like Jess this Christmas.
Just £10 can bring a little Christmas cheer for those, like Jess, 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 homeless people compassion, safety and a friendly smiling face throughout the festive period and beyond.
At just 11 years old, Jess slept rough for the first time. Even at such a young age, it felt safer sleeping on the streets than at home. Recently, Jess was forced into homelessness with no choice but to sleep on the streets again. Then she found HARP.
Every year, HARP support over 1,200 local people who, like Jess, are homeless or at risk of losing their home. Can you help us make sure that people like Jess can be safe and warm this Christmas and throughout the year?
Support someone like Jess this Christmas by making a donation today.
25-year-old Jess never expected to find herself on the streets.
“People just gave me dirty looks and walked straight past as if I was nothing. No-one offered me help.”
A combination of anxiety, depression and problematic relationships have again forced Jess into homelessness.
Jess was forced to leave her long-term, volatile relationship, leaving her with nowhere to go. Jess had no choice but to sleep on the streets again.
But Jess had been supported by HARP in the past, and knew where to come to get the help she needed.
We were able to offer Jess a room and she is going from strength to strength.
Text SAFE to 70460
to donate £10*
Text HAPPY to 70490
to donate £3 a month**
“Without HARP, I’d still be on the streets!”
Jess’s resilience is an inspiration and she is looking to the future, hoping for things that so many of us take for granted – a stable life, a job and a home for herself and her children.
“I don’t know what Christmas will be like this year but knowing I’ll be safe and warm at HARP is a big weight off my shoulders."I know I’m somewhere safe, with the support of my friends and the team at HARP."
“I’ve been on top of the world since coming to HARP.”
Support someone like Jess this Christmas by making a donation today.
Jess is just one of the residents in our 222 rooms who, without HARP, might be sleeping rough this Christmas. We offer our residents - as well as those we support who are still sleeping on the streets - a festive meal 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 Jess this Christmas by donating to our Christmas Appeal.
By texting or clicking below to donate, you will help to provide so much more than a Christmas meal; you will give local people who are homeless compassion, safety and a friendly smiling face throughout the festive period and beyond…
Text SAFE to 70460
to donate £10*
Text HAPPY to 70490
to donate £3 a month**
* Texts cost £10 plus one standard rate message.
** Texts cost £3 a month plus one standard rate message.
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.
~ In order to protect the privacy of the individuals involved, names have been changed and photos of a model used.