As you may remember from multiple blog posts over the winter period for the last two years; I am proud to be involved in Light Project Peterborough, a homeless project that runs through the winter months of each year in Peterborough giving food, shelter, company and more to a group of homeless people while helping them gain permanent accommodation and improve their lives.
Last year we offered shelter to 44 homeless people over 3 months and 23 of these people are still in permanent accommodation within the Peterborough area; this is a project that delivers on what it promises and is an amazing thing to be part of.
However, and the point of this blog post; the project cannot run without the help of others and this is how / where the help is needed;
Volunteers
The project is made up of 3 shifts per day/ night and a welcome shift too. This includes an hour where the homeless people congregate for the evening, are given a hot beverage and are signed in before being taken to their venue for that night. As well as this shift, volunteers are needed for the evening shift to make beds, serve dinner and engage with the guests, a night shift where volunteers are there throughout the night and the morning shift where you serve breakfast to the guests and pack away / tidy up.
Could you be a volunteer for one or more of these shifts? You can put your name down for as many or as few shifts as you would like.
Awareness
We have ways of connecting and engaging with the homeless people of Peterborough but we also need to improve awareness of the project to homeless people we do not come into contact with. We are just asking that if you meet a homeless person between November and March that you direct them to the City Council on Broadway and tell them to ask to be signed up for Light Project Peterborough.
Donations
We provide the homeless people with a shelter for the night, a bed and clean bedding, an evening and morning meal, toiletries, clothes, companionship, hot beverages and more. They are taken in a taxi to the venue for each evening too and although the taxi firm subsidise the cost, a payment is still required. Could you give a small monetary donation to help us run this project?
We will be in the City Centre from 9am until 4.30pm on Saturday 23rd September and would love for you to come down and say Hello to us, find out more about the project or help us with one or more of the above areas that we need your help.
Thank you in advance for helping the homeless of Peterborough and for creating a better community for everyone.