Yesterday, when driving my daughter home, she asked me, “When does Strictly start?”, which is the clearest, modern example I can think of that our thoughts have turned to winter.
I guessed at 15 weeks before Christmas and she immediately pointed out that yesterday was exactly 16 weeks to Christmas Day. She is clearly already counting down the days.
And we all count down, I think, in one way or another, whether it’s to the next half term, our next holiday, a birthday or an anniversary, there’s something in the future that we hold as a milestone in time, a place to get to.
Planning for winter at KCAH is starting to gather pace with thoughts of the night shelter, sleeping bag provisions, a stock of hot meals (noodles/porridge) to build on and the sense of urgency that ramps up to successfully find housing for people when the alternative is so bleak.
We are also counting down to our Big Sleep Out, our flagship fundraising event which this year we hope will raise over £30,000.
That amount of money goes a very long way to funding the employment of a housing advisor or a support worker for a year. In fundraising terms, this is called “core costs”. While there is an unfortunate misunderstanding around supporting core costs at charities, KCAH is a small organisation in a small building. No matter your role here, you are involved in the lives of the people we support.
Because ending homelessness is more than finding a house. It’s accessing the correct levels of statutory support, it’s having the technology to stay in communication, it’s a hot meal and a coffee, it’s having the belief in the system to engage with medical services, it’s having the confidence to speak up for yourself. As a team we deliver all of these, every day.
To keep our frontline workers providing this level of intensive, one-to-one support costs money. Money that goes on training, equipment, and the salaries of our expert advisors and support workers. Over 50% of our staff work directly on the frontline, while the rest of us build the safe infrastructure that allows them to make the difference we all see.
Be part of the solution by joining our fundraising event The Big Sleep Out. We have 67 spaces left at our central site at All Saints Church in Kingston. We ask that you undertake the discomfort of one night in the open and raise £150 towards our goal.
Or spend a night in your garden with your family, build a makeshift shelter and raise £150 towards our goal.
Fundraising is easy with our partner Zeffy and ensures 100% of donations come to KCAH.
Sign up here: https://kcah.org.uk/big-sleep-out-registration/
