Council leader volunteers at homeless project

After a series of visits to the charity’s various projects and meeting WCHP’s clients, staff and volunteers, Dan approached the charity about volunteering and came to help at St Clare’s Community Hub, cooking and preparing breakfast for the WCHP Breakfast Club.

Each morning, a team of three to four volunteers help WCHP Breakfast Club, serving tea and coffee, cooking the breakfast, providing a friendly face and some community engagement. Volunteers play an integral role in providing warmth and community inclusion within the charity’s services - many of the customers would have spent the previous night sleeping rough somewhere locally, and for many it will be their only hot meal of the day.

St Clare’s is open Monday to Saturday throughout the year. The Breakfast Club runs from 9am – 12noon, which also serves as a drop in session for anybody who needs access to services, advice and support. St Clare’s hosts the local Rough Sleeper’s Team, which is a multi-agency approach to end rough sleeping in the town. The team incorporates assertive outreach and local intelligence, pulling together resources to find, offer and implement solutions.

Services provided at St Clare’s include hot and cold food, showers, clothing, laundry, IT provision, advice, information and signposting. The service is a referral route into local supported housing.

Ali Nicholson, volunteer manager, said: “It was incredibly meaningful to WCHP to welcome Dan on Friday and reflects a growing partnership in the community working together to help end the need to sleep rough.”