Chorley Help the Homeless
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newsletter_-_2020-12_december.pdf
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The Lancashire COVID-19 Community Support Fund helped us to fund our services
between July and October

Please check out our report to see what this funding helped us to achieve
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NEWS UPDATE from our Chairman Ken Phillips
28 August 2020 


​NEW MANAGER: 

Can I extend a warm welcome to Gill Ferris, our newly appointed Manager who will be helping us to continue to improve and grow our much needed services at this challenging time.  
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OUR SERVICES:
At the moment we are open Mon, Tues, Thurs and Fri but please check Facebook or our website for regular for updates.

We wanted to give you an update on our current services and a reassurance that we aim to continue to offer food parcels and household items, including local deliveries to households in need across Chorley Borough. Our Benefits Advice and telephone Counselling Services are continuing on an appointment only basis.

Primarily we aim to support single people and families in distress as a result of homelessness, redundancy, illness, debt, family breakdown, leaving care or institutions, delay in benefits, including those whose benefits have been sanctioned.

NEW SERVICES:
We are also offering two new services: a weekly family food scheme which provides larger food parcels for families with children to support; and a Chorley Market fresh food voucher scheme for people to access fresh fruit, vegetables and meats. Both these services can be accessed via self referral on-line, telephone, or collection service. A delivery service is also available.
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WHAT WE NEED:
Over the coming weeks and months, we expect the need for our support to increase due to ongoing hardship caused by the pandemic. We continue to need donations of food and household items - in particular small electrical items like kettles, toasters and microwaves.

We are also asking if people can continue to make financial donations so we can purchase more fresh food vouchers and household items as and when we need them, as we are aware donating in person may be difficult.  
THANK YOU:
Chorley Help the Homeless extends its thanks to the wide and caring local community as we simply could not continue to deliver such a broad-based and extensive service without the commitment of our fantastic team of volunteers, help and support from Chorley BC, community-based agencies, local Diocese, commercial businesses and not least the generosity of our donors. 

​Ken Phillips,

​Chairman, Chorley Help the Homeless
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Please click to make a donation to Chorley Help the Homeless through Paypal Giving Fund
July 2020
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Chorley Help the Homeless, in addition to our regular food parcels are now providing Food Vouchers to use at Chorley Market.  The vouchers are for families affected by COVID-19 to purchase fresh fruit, vegetables, bakery products and fresh meat. Register for the vouchers by completing the self referral form on our home page.
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May 2020

A very big Thank You to everyone who has made a donation to us over this very difficult period.  Many people have been in touch with us, offering support and we have also been fortunate to receive several donations.

The work of Chorley Help the Homeless was featured recently on Channel 4 news.  The programme highlighted how some communities have come together to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic and featured a number of local groups.


Lancashire COVID-19 Community Support Fund and the National Emergencies Trust awarded a grant of £3,100 to Chorley Help the Homeless.  This money was provided to help us adapt our services and purchase fresh fruit and vegetables, especially to support children and families affected financially by the COVID-19 pandemic.
March 2020

​New Intercom Fitted
A Big thank you to Phil from ​AW Fire Safety who quickly responded to our urgent need to install a new door intercom system in order to keep our Emergency Food Service operational during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Without the prompt service we received from AW Fire Safety e would have had to of closed the centre completely.  Now we have a door intercom system, we have a safe system of work in place to protect our volunteers, enabling them to continue responding to the needs of those in need.

A W Fire Safety are a local company  www.awfiresafety.co.uk

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Food Donations Received

​The Bees Country Kitchen continue to support us during the UK Coronavirus Lockdown - pictured right is the latest collection food.  During this unprecedented period our emergency food parcels will undoubtedly be in very high demand at the same time many people that would normally be able to pop into our centre with food or financial donations will not be able to come.
​February 2020

​Chorley Help The Homeless received a community award from Chorley In Bloom on Thursday night. Gemma (one of our Trustees - right) and Gill (our manager - left) are in the photo receiving the certificate. We are proud of being in partnership with Chorley in Bloom.
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​January 2020

Rock FM journalist recently visited Chorley Help The Homeless to learn more about the problem of homelessness in our community.  Click here to read their report. 
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December 2019 

Throughout November & December, Chorley Help The Homeless received many generous donations and offers of support.  Here are just some of the ways that the community supported our work:
  • Debbie Farrar held a Facebook fundraiser that raised £860, plus more fundraising at a tombola and yoga evening in December. ​
  • Eric Wright Group in Bamber Bridge delivered a huge number of quilts and cold-weather items from their Christmas Appeal this year.  
  • The Criminal Justice Unit at Chorley Police brought in some large boxes of food, toiletries and cold-weather gear.  
  • Carrie Robinson brought in some kitchenware and other items raised by an Amazon wish list appeal. 
  • We Love Pets West Lancs and Southport had a Reverse Advent Calendar donation scheme.
  • The 'Wrap Up Lancashire' scheme donated a large number of coats, organised by Lancashire's Rotary Clubs.  
  • Waitrose in Walton-le-Dale chose Chorley Help the Homeless for their token scheme in November, which raised £350 for us.  
  • Jan Coyne held a charity fundraiser for her birthday in November and raised £300 to buy food for our Food Bank.  
  • Children came to see Santa at the Christmas Market in November, organised by Victoria at Chocobella, where we received £326 in donations.
THANK YOU SO MUCH TO EVERYONE who has supported our work with donations over the Christmas season!
October 2019 - Harvest Festival
Last month was Harvest Festival, when many primary schools and churches give thanks for the food they have, and think of those who are less fortunate, raising donations of food for the community. 

We are so grateful to all the schools and churches in Chorley who chose to give their Harvest Festival donation to CHTH this year, which will greatly help our Food Bank stocks for the year ahead.


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6-Month Digest: Some of the news items from Chorley Help the Homeless between April and September 2019
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1st September 2019 - Westmorland School donation
A huge thank you to the pupils, parents and staff at Westmorland School in Chorley for their very generous donation. The pupils chose Chorley Help The Homeless as their charity of the year for 2018/19. In discussions with them during the year they had an amazing understanding and sympathy for the work we are doing. And the school has very kindly donated to us the proceeds of their Open Days in July. Thanks again and the very best of wishes to everyone at the school but especially to the pupils who moved on to their secondary schooling at the start of this year.


1st September 2019 - ASDA cheque
At the end of August we received a £500 cheque from the Asda Foundation's Local Impact Grant. Thank you so much to community champion Deborah and the Asda Chorley Superstore! It means so much to us that Asda have been able to support the community in Chorley.
This grant is to help us get small electrical items for people starting up in new properties, and also to support the IT needs at our premises. 


16th August 2019 - St George's Dental Practice food donation
Many thanks to St George's Dental Practice for responding to our appeal for food. They have set up a collection point in their reception and collected all this in just two days!! Magnificent. And they have also helped with a very generous supply of toothpaste. Their collection point will be there until 29th August.


18th July 2019 - Thompsons Packaging paper bags
Regarding our recent appeal for carrier bags: Thank you to everyone for your responses and suggestions. You have given us some good solutions that we will look into.
We'd like to give a really big thank you to Thompsons Packaging in Chorley who have donated a large amount of paper carrier bags to us -- they'll be very useful, thank you for your generous support!
10th July 2019 - Dorothy Griffiths

It is with great sadness that we have to report that Dorothy Griffiths, who founded our Charity over 20 years ago, has died. She was very actively involved in both the running of the Charity and its day-to-day work right up to the beginning of last year by which time she was in her mid 80s. We decided then to call our building Dorothy House as a lasting recognition of her unstinting commitment to helping local people who had either been made homeless or were threatened with homelessness. The various Trustees and Volunteers who worked with her over the years are determined that the Charity will continue with the work she started.
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9th July 2019 - St Michael's shoebox appeal

A great big thank you to the Year 9 Charity Reps at St Michaels School for organising over 34 shoeboxes of food and household items and to everyone in the Year 9 tutor groups for making CHTH their year group's charity. Your support is very highly valued.


17th June 2019 - WatchUsGrow sleepout
Many thanks to #watchusgrow, the self-help group based at Matrix House in Chorley. They did a sponsored sleepout over the weekend to highlight issues relating to homelessness. Part of the money raised will be donated to Chorley Help The Homeless.
The photos show the group getting ready to leave St Laurence's Church on Friday afternoon and their weekend sleepout base.


11th June 2019 - Chocobella window dressing
We were winners of the Window Dressing competition sponsored by Chocobella at the weekend! Thank you so much.


8th June 2019 - Taste of Chorley stall
On Saturday 8th and Sunday 9th of June the food and drink showcase 'A Taste of Chorley' comes to the market stalls at Chorley town centre. As well as food and drink, it's also a chance to raise awareness of other activities in Chorley, so you'll find our volunteers at a stall representing Chorley Help the Homeless.
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31st May 2019 - JADA Embroidery T-shirts
Thank you so much to Adrian at JADA Embroidery & Print on Eaves Lane for making these awesome t-shirts for our volunteers!


16th May 2019 - Duncan Mitchell Chorley 10K
An update on some awesome fundraising: Duncan Mitchell ran the Chorley 10k last Sunday and raised £220 through his JustGiving page. We'd like to give a very big thanks to Duncan and to everyone who made a donation - thank you so much!


1st April 2019 - Booths collection point case embroidery
Celia and Sue, two of our volunteers, showing off the embroidery of the CHTH logo on the suitcases we use to collect items from the food bank point in Booths. (Thanks, Anne.) We are very grateful for all your donations and to Booths for this valuable help.
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June 2019 - update
Update on the House Hunt Trail and the Window Dressing award at the Chorley Food and Drink event

On Saturday 8th and Sunday 9th of June the food and drink showcase 'A Taste of Chorley' came to the market stalls at Chorley town centre. As well as food and drink, it was a chance to raise awareness of other activities in Chorley.
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Thanks to support from Chorley BC a number of our staff and volunteers attended the event and organised a town centre trail competition with prizes.

Update - great news, we were delighted to win the Window Dressing award for our unique window display at Dorothy House!
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March 2019

Did you know?
Between January and March 2019 our volunteers and staff provided the following face to face housing advice, debt and counselling services as well as organising and distributing food parcels, household items and clothing. Once again, a huge thank you to everyone for all your support!
Jan-March 2019
March 2019

Chairman of Trustees Anne Wilson and Vice Chair Ken Phillips called in to the Shepherds Hall Ale House to thank Will and the team for their fund raising in support of the work of CHTH. Big thank you to all who donated. ​
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Monday 18th February 2019

Welcome to Gill Ferris, the new Manager at Chorley Help the Homeless.  Gill has started this week and is keen to help the charity improve and develop its services to help many more people in Chorley and the local area.
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January 2019

Many thanks to Dickenson’s of Market Street, Chorley for helping us to re-carpet Dorothy House, starting with the entrance and reception office today. Thanks guys for a great job.

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December 2018
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Many thanks to ​Chorley England Stake (Preston England Temple, Chorley) for organising their members to donate decorated shoe boxes filled with gifts for CHTH to distribute over the Christmas period. This was part of their Christmas Nativities Festival and we are expecting the fantastic amount of over a hundred boxes. In the photo on the right is Church member Thomas Davies who organised the donations, so special thanks to him and his team.

December 2018
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Drumstick, a local band made up of 6 pupils from St Michael's High School, called in to our offices just before Christmas with a cheque for £522.32 which they had kindly collected for us to support our work with the homeless.
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www.chth.org.uk   
Registered Charity Nr: 1152392     
​Company Ltd By Guarantee Nr: 08380427
 

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