Sponsor a bed to help Corby homeless hostel

A Corby project that supports homeless people in the town is asking people to support them by sponsoring one of the hostel's beds.

Corby Homeless Project's premises in Dorking Walk nearly halved its capacity providing short term accommodation due to the Covid pandemic.

In a bid to fundraise, hostel managers East Northants Community Services are offering long-term sponsorship opportunities to help the clients.

Lucy Brooks, resident engagement and project lead at Corby Homeless Project, said: "We are looking for people to support us by sponsoring a bed all year round.

"We are a 24/7 staffed provision that provide our residents with everything that they need from a toothbrush to a hot meal.

"We pride ourselves in the work that we do and having a wonderful team of empathetic support workers who are passionate on helping to improve the lives of others."

Corby Homeless Project was due to be a mixture of short term, shared accommodation, with 16 beds to get individuals off the streets, and another five to seven ‘move on’ beds for those who need longer term support to help them to learn live independently and maintain a tenancy.

Only five weeks after the project opened in January 2020 the pandemic hit.

When the lockdown arrived, government advice changed, with the service able to offer nine single bedrooms for rough sleepers, on a medium-long term basis.

Lucy said: "Our staff work with individuals to help them make positive choices in order to obtain secure and permanent accommodation.

"When residents arrive, we introduce them to their fully furnished single room. We make a plan and help them to understand their problems by getting to the root cause - without doing this we would not be able to move them on. We need to make sure they are ready, and all issues have been addressed, this way the accommodation they move on to will be sustainable."

The team supports anyone with drug and alcohol issues, teach life skills, help look for training courses, assist them to find work and help them rebuild relationships with family members

Lucy said: "We help them to feel safe, we keep them warm and offer them stability.

"£3 per month could pay for two weeks supply of milk. £10 per month could pay utilities in one of our houses for the day. £20 per month could help fund 1:1 support time with a member of staff and will ensure that someone who is homeless can have support from our team to address their barriers to housing and move them into permanent accommodation."

Anyone choosing to donate monthly, will be able to see the success stories from the project.

Lucy added: "We are reliant on donations to keep our services running and would be incredibly grateful to those who wish to support us.

"It is easy to donate, you can also make a one-off payment to this campaign or there is a monthly option as well. In advance I would like to give a heartfelt thanks from us all at Corby Homeless Project."

To pledge or donate to help Corby Homeless Project please click here.