Help us get on target
Welcome to your November update from Catching Lives. Our Winter Appeal to raise £50,000 launched in October and we are so grateful to everyone for their support. We have raised just over £10,000 and we are currently behind target to raise the full amount by the end of March.
The money raised could help save the lives of people sleeping rough as we are running an overnight shelter - the Canterbury Community Shelter - this winter. Funds will also support our day centre services throughout winter and beyond. If you are able to donate to the Catching Lives Winter Appeal via JustGiving, your help could really make a difference. We are a small independent charity covering east Kent and rely heavily on donations. We’ve seen a 20% increase of people needing our help compared to last year. No donation is too small.
£5 could go towards hot drinks at our Day Centre to keep people warm in cold weather
£8 could provide breakfast and lunch for a week for one person experiencing homelessness
£19 could provide essential services for a day to a person experiencing homelessness
£47 could host someone for the night at Canterbury Community Shelter
Thank you for anything you can give to support people experiencing homelessness gain essential support as well as a route off the streets.
How to donate Christmas gifts to our clients
As we approach the festive season, our pantry is looking vibrant and full so thank you to everyone who brought in donations for Harvest Festival and beyond. For the next month, we are focusing our ‘donate items’ efforts on Christmas treats and gifts for our clients. We’ve spoken to the people we work with and asked them what items are most useful for them and published a list here if you, your community group or business would like to support us that way. We’re open 365 days of the year, seven days a week, which includes Christmas Day and the festive period.
Festive fundraisers
Speaking of Christmas, Catching Lives is hosting a festive quiz on December 5 at the Canterbury Umbrella Centre, St Peters Place to raise money for our Winter Shelter. Each table costs £50 with a maximum of six to a team. Table price includes snacks and a soft drink, and please feel free to bring your own festive tipple for the table. Raffle tickets are £1. To book your table, visit our Events page or RSVP to georgia@catchinglives.org. Doors open at 5.30pm for a 6pm start.
Also coming up is Canterbury Chamber Choir’s Christmas concert at St Peter’s Methodist Church on Saturday, December 21 at 1pm. There will be a retiring collection for Catching Lives. Tickets on sale here.
Meet the volunteers
Our Meet the volunteers feature celebrates the amazing people at the heart of Catching Lives. Penny Stevens, has been volunteering with Catching Lives for 16 years. She is one of our Volunteer Team Leads for the Bookshop, organising our volunteers and coordinating the rotas.
How did you hear about the volunteering opportunity?
I have been involved with student welfare all my working life. My last ten years were as Campus Tutor at Christ Church University. One summer, staff were invited to do a day's volunteering in the city. So that way, I discovered the Scrine Foundation, which became Catching Lives.
What are some joys you have experienced since starting with Catching Lives?
I have enjoyed visiting the Centre and learning about homelessness. The staff and Trustees are so welcoming. I also talk to people living on the streets, something which volunteering for Catching Lives has encouraged me to do.
I really like working with the team in the bookshop - we take pride in our sales figures increasing over the years. All thanks to the hard work of our volunteers - and the great book donations we receive! Some books have been sold for hundreds of pounds through our eBay team.
Outside of Catching Lives, how do you like to spend your time?
Apart from the bookshop, I am busy seeing my grandchildren, leading walks for Canterbury Ramblers, attending French and German classes, yoga and jazz.
Volunteering Stats for November
Thank you to all our volunteers who have helped this month.
And finally…
We are recruiting paid Waking Night Staff for the Canterbury Community Shelter. Applications close on Thursday, December 5. For ongoing volunteer opportunities, please contact volunteer@catchinglives.org.
We have several people raising money for us at the moment: Edd Withers and the Canterbury Residents and Community Group have launched their Christmas appeal, Denise Smith, of the ‘7 for 70’ campaign, is still selling calendars. Her email is denise.smith167[at]btinternet[dot]com if you would like to buy one. Our Volunteer Coordinator Rosie Bartlett’s ‘150 days of movement’ fundraiser continues and decorator Richard Taylor’s ‘A room for £1’ competition has surpassed £1,000. There is still time to enter to be in with a chance of winning. Read more here.
Thank you to Benenden Wine Committee for £1,700 raised from a wine tasting in October in memory of Tracy Claridge. Thank you to Julie Wassmer and everyone who came along to the ‘Meet The Author’ event at the Catching Lives bookshop for raising more than £950 with signed copies of Murder-on-Sea (Whitstable Pearl Mysteries).
As ever, thank you to everyone who has donated money, items or time. If you’d like to support our Winter Fundraising Appeal, please do so via JustGiving.
If you’d like more regular updates, please do keep an eye on our website, Facebook and Instagram for more updates until we write to you again in December.
Sign up to our newsletter
To receive this newsletter in your inbox, you can sign up here. We post updates throughout the week on Facebook and Instagram.
Comentarios