Oh football, you’ve done it again :,( and that’s all I’ll say on that matter. What we need to talk about this week are the quiet heroes.
Some I have met and others are (or wish to remain) anonymous, but all have 1 thing in common: a desire to see a difference in the community and a willingness to give in order to support that desire.
There are two valuable commodities in charity work, one is time and the other is money and my job is to ask you for both but more than that tell you why you should give up some of your precious commodities, so I will do just that.
KCAH is a truly remarkable and unique service. Within the four branches of work we do, I have never seen the ethos of treating every person with respect and dignity so embodied as I have in the past year.
But it’s more than that, and as I write I’m struggling to put my finger on what that thing is: it’s compassion, empathy, enduring relationships, positivity in the face of what look like insurmountable odds.
It’s human kindness on steroids.
The team at The Bridge are patient, positive and without a speck of judgement. Meeting people where they are, both physically and mentally, but always ready to advise on safe use and show that there’s a way out of substance use.
The staff of the Access Project lead with compassion, in the early stages of a tenancy they are the executive function for traumatised minds, they are the security of knowing that someone cares and will listen, they are the cheerleaders who help self-esteem bloom.
The people of the Housing Crisis Intervention Team have some of the quickest minds I’ve ever met, laser-focussed on solutions, steeped in empathy and with an unparalleled depth of knowledge regarding every pathway to and from the experience of homelessness.
The Winter Night Shelter, though temporary by necessity, is run as a firm but fair hand for the most vulnerable at their most vulnerable time. It is a sanctuary from the elements as well as circumstance with warmth, a hot meal and a bed.
All of these services and the gathering of these exceptional people is thanks to the management team but beyond all that, the work we do is, in part, possible because of quiet heroes.
The few who donate thousands of pounds every year, those that give what they can regularly, the school staff who teach the value of giving and lead a generation of charity-minded young people, the churches who shine a light on the plight of homelessness, the businesses that generously reduce their profits for our cause and the individuals who mobilise their own communities to promote our case (you all know who you are!), exemplify the ethos of KCAH in their actions.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, if every working adult in the borough donated just £1 a month, the impact that KCAH has would be astonishing.
Never feel like a problem is so big you can’t be part of the solution, that’s what quiet heroes do.
If you can spare £1 a month, I’ve put a link to the donation form below and please forward this email to a friend, let them know what we do and why it’s important.
In closing I want you to know, by staying subscribed and reading this email, you are already a quiet hero.
