Saturday Friendship Group
Homeless Project
Working in partnership with the Salvation Army's Way Ahead Project
LATEST NEWS  (1st April)

How is the Coronavirus crisis affecting us?

Yvonne McKinnon at the Way Ahead Project writes:

As things have changed dramatically & very quickly over the last few weeks, we have had to put steps in place as and when needed to keep everybody safe, So we have gone from the communal dropin operating from the WAP, to the hall with 2 volunteers in the kitchen serving the visitors each morning, to moving it to a food line service from the door, in the space of a fortnight; and we have now stopped operating from the door. It is now a ring the bell service for just the homeless & vulnerably housed. We are providing lunchbags for the still street homeless & food parcels/vouchers for anyone financially struggling.

I am sure many of you are aware that the government have asked that all street homeless were off the street by the weekend just gone, which put quite alot of pressure on the local authority in Leamington, especially as they do not have the voids that were needed, hotels & B&Bs closing,  and dealing with such a high risk group (majority, not all).

39 have been accommodated, 9 are still waiting and 3 are refusing to be housed, so 'job well done' I say, they are still working on the 7 who are waiting as they need to find appropriate support for these individuals, hopefully this will be soon as I feel the situation is worsening.

All of the  the 51 individuals are being supported by either WAP, LWS, HH OR P3  and we are all working alongside each other with WDC to provide, food and emotional support.

WAP are providing a cold food lunch bag on Mon, Wed,Thurs, Fri,  Sat and delivering out to all locations, along with telephone support. We are also providing food/telephone support to our regular visitors of the WAP when needed.

As you can imagine we will be going through copious amounts of food and snacks while providing these bags so any help would be very much appreciated, we have managed to get pre-packed sandwiches from Aubrey Allan which will be so much easier, but are unsure if this is sustainable throughout the crisis. If not, we will then have to make up our own. We are reaching out for donations of cans/bottled pop, chocolate biscuit bars, yoghurts/cold desserts & crisps.
On a lighter note:

As most of us are stuck in the house, bored, nothing to do, or have already done everything you needed to do in this last week, why not have a little bit of fun and forget about it all and Join Our Quiz on Wednesday night, with Stephanie our fund-raiser. Every Little Helps. *

The WAP's Wednesday Quiz

This Wednesday (1st April) at 8:00pm and every Wednesday during the current crisis, the Way Ahead Project will be holding its first virtual quiz and it would be amazing to have lots of people take part.

For the price of that takeaway coffee we can't have at the moment (£3), participants can test their knowledge in rounds such as General Knowledge, Film & TV, Music and Sport.  The quiz takes about 20 minutes and cash prizes are awarded for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place.  The more people who join in, the bigger the prizes will be!

All people need to do is register to play at www.virtualquizevents.com before the quiz and then search for the "Way Ahead Project" in the list of available quizzes.  Be ready to play at 8:00pm as the quiz starts promptly.

Stephanie Jackson
Fundraising Development Lead
The WAY AHEAD PROJECT


ABOUT US

We are -
  • For the homeless – rough sleepers and sofa surfers – those in poor accommodation, with mental health issues or addictions.
  • We, the churches of Catholic Leamington, work in partnership with the Salvation Army’s               Way Ahead Project’                                              who have a drop-in centre in Church Street.
  • There people can find food and shelter and warmth, toilet and shower, clothes washing facilities, computers to use, extra activities, training, advice and, above all, friendship.
  • The Way Ahead is the hub for providing advice and assistance in obtaining services from all the other agencies and government provision.
  • They aim to find people accommodation, encourage them to engage in activities, develop self-confidence, help them to obtain work and to cultivate a culture of recovery.
  • Over 100 different people visit every month! There are 20-35 people at the drop-in on any one morning.
  • Saturdays are different!:
  • sfg enables the Way Ahead, open 9.30-11.20 Monday and Wednesday-Friday, to continue its work on Saturday, when there is little other provision. The first 12 to arrive work together to provide themselves with a brunch and there are some additional leisure activities, as well as the usual weekday services, in a more relaxed atmosphere.
  • sfg provides funding and volunteers for Saturday opening.
  • Catholic Leamington is now in a Partnership with the Salvation Army to continue this work and sfg is a permanent sub-committee of the Parish Pastoral Council.
Interested in volunteering? / donating?
JOIN US!