Surbiton High supports Kingston charity for the homeless (From Surrey Comet)

Surbiton High supports Kingston charity for the homeless

5:26pm Monday 14th December 2009 in Your News

By community correspondent Rosie Morris

The charity’s main aim is to provide help and support for those who are either homeless or on the brink of homelessness through a range of projects happening locally. The charity is committed to improving the quality of life for homeless people, providing them with accommodation and respecting them as individuals.

The speakers from KCAH emphasised to us that even though we cannot necessarily see the effects of homelessness in our local area, the problem is definfitely still present. The Reverend Peter Holmes explained to us that one of the most common forms of homelessness is “sofa surfing” in which individuals spend nights in other people’s homes without having a place they can call their own.

One of the most important projects that KCAH run is the Access project which places individuals into shared houses where they have their own space but can also learn to live with others but most importantly have a safe roof over their heads. From there, the tenants work with counsellors on a “Support plan” aiming to plan for a brighter future.

Another project that was run this year and last year was the Churches Winter night shelter in which church halls were open to clients as a warm place to sleep and a positive alternative to the cold winter’s night. This, like all the charity’s work, was run by a dedicated team of volunteers.

55 churches in Kingston helped to set up KCAH and recently in assemblies and especially in our annual school carol service we have been informed of the issue of homelessness locally and nationally and encouraged to do something to help solve the problem. We were all given the opportunity to donate to the charity during the service and reminded to value what we have when others are not as lucky as we are.