This week we noticed the knocks at the Nightshelter door becoming more frequent, signalling the start of Harvest. The knock is usually followed by a kind representative from a local church or school announcing that they have a car boot full of donations for us.
Every harvest, we are so moved by the generosity and thoughtfulness of the local community. We recognise that each item donated represents a person who has spared a thought for our 17 residents and the work we do to support them out of homelessness and onto a brighter future.
The circle of kindness continues once the items arrive at the Nightshelter. Teams of volunteers give up their time to come and sort the donations to ensure they are stored by best before dates to avoid food wastage. With careful planning, we try to make the donations last the year until Harvest comes again.
Donations are used to help serve 12,000 meals each year, they enable us to provide more than 5,000 hot drinks to rough sleepers every year and they mean we can provide moving on packs to residents when they leave the Nightshelter. Donations of items such as toilet roll, bin bags, washing powder and cleaning sprays help hugely with the costs involved in keeping the Nightshelter open 365 days a year.
Here at the Nightshelter we are working to transform lives, inspire hope and end homelessness and we want to thank every individual who supports our work through their harvest donation.
For more information about donating items to the Nightshelter, to see our most-needed items list and to arrange for drop off or collection please go to our donations page.
Image: Christ Church Winchester
