We’re doing what we can to tackle homelessness in your community, can you help?
October has arrived and with it comes our latest charitable partnership. This month we are excited to announce that we will be working closely with YMCA Crewe over the coming months.
Get to know YMCA Crewe
YMCA Crewe, provide accomodation and support for people experiencing homelessness, care leavers, unaccompanied asylum-seeking children and refugees. In addition, they provide a range of community activities for children, families and the socially isolated. They also run a café and property maintenance service as training opportunities for their service users. But all of these services need funding…
How are LilaConnect Helping Out?
Throughout the month of October we will be volunteering our time and energy, helping with some of the charity’s ongoing projects. From assembling new furniture for service users’ apartments to volunteering in the café kitchen each Tuesday from 10am-12pm. We also have another charitable trick up our sleeves this month…
Numerous LilaConnect staff are volunteering to take part in a ‘sleep out’ to raise awareness and donations in support of homeless people across the area. Our team will be spending an entire night sleeping rough in Crewe with just a sleeping bag. Keep reading to find out what it’s all about and how you can help.
The YMCA Crewe Sleep Easy 2021
Following on from the YMCA’s first Sleep Out in 2020, which saw 22 people raise almost £3000 by spending the night sleeping rough in Memorial Square, YMCA Crewe have once again called on their local community to take part in the Sleep Easy 2021 which will be held inside Crewe Market Hall. The aim is to raise awareness of ‘Hidden Homelessness’, which many YMCA Crewe service users have experienced.
Not all people who have experienced homelessness will have slept on the streets. They may have ‘sofa surfed’, relying on family and friends to give them somewhere to stay. They may have stayed in unsafe or overcrowded accommodation, or slept on public transport.
Hidden Homelessness has a huge impact on physical and mental wellbeing, as well as putting immense strain on friendships and family relationships. It can be difficult for charities like YMCA to collect data on Hidden Homelessness, but it is estimated that about 62% of single homeless people are hidden. What’s worse, it is likely that this will increase in the aftermath of the pandemic, as the impact of the increasing pressure on relationships becomes evident.
YMCA Crewe’s Sleep Easy 2021 will take place this Saturday, 16th October in Crewe Market Hall. Participants, including a number of LilaConnect employees, will arrive from 9pm, while the Market Hall is full and buzzing with Oktoberfest celebrations. By 11pm, the crowds will head home, the bar staff will finish their shift, and the participants will roll out their sleeping bags ready for a night in a cold uninviting environment.
Can you help us reach our target?
YMCA Crewe are hoping to raise £10,000 through the event, which will be used to support their work with people experiencing homelessness. It will help fund support offered right from the point an individual first comes to YMCA Crewe, throughout their stay and as they move onto permanent, secure accomodation.
If you are interested in supporting the campaign and would like to support our team’s efforts by donating to the fundraising campaign, you can do so by visiting: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/lilaconnect
Thank you all for your generous support!
