A NIGHT shelter has announced it isn t offering one of its services until further notice. The Swindon Night Shelter which offers a safe place to stay and offers food and essentials is no longer offering beds to rough sleepers at The Friday Night Shelter until restrictions ease. Due to coronavirus regulations the shelter at St Mary s Church in Cheney Manor Road, which has run on a Friday night for 12 years, is unable to offer beds to the homeless. The Operations Manager of the charity, Dan Read, said: The site at St Mary s Church is inactive at the moment because of Covid-19.
A GOOD Samaritan helped a homeless man who could have died on the freezing streets find a safe and warm place to stay overnight. Threshold Housing Link shared the story of how a Swindon Night Shelter volunteer provided temporary accommodation for a man who was sleeping rough in a bus shelter. Threshold said that the man had run out of options and offers due to a number of complex factors and would have been at high risk of death if he had not found shelter on Thursday night, when temperatures plummeted into the minuses. The vulnerable client had been exploited and robbed during the last week and this has apparently happened to him many times before.
Honda donates £36,000 to three charities in a bid to tackle food poverty Three Swindon charities have been given a boost in a bid to tackle food poverty. Swindon Food Collective, Big Breakfast Plus and Swindon Night Shelter have all received a £12,000 donation from car manufacturer Honda. Each year, Honda treats its 3000-strong work force to a festive meal ahead of the factory’s Christmas shutdown. However, with Covid-19 restrictions not allowing for this, the Swindon-based company gave the money to local charities instead. Rosemary Curtis, Chair of trustees at Big Breakfast Plus, said: “We were thrilled and overwhelmed by this unexpected donation. The generosity and goodwill of the community is really important to small local charities like ours - and, more importantly, to those who we support. We’ve struggled to help them since the initial lockdown in March, so this amazing donation will enable us to explore alternative ways in which we can relaunch our service,
THE charitable arm of a Swindon-based insurance giant has given out £332,000 to good causes around Swindon this year. The Zurich Community Trust has helped 13 charities and community projects who have been hit hard by the pandemic. The company’s employees at each office, including the 950 in its Swindon HQ, took part in fundraisers and voted on which groups to help before the cash was shared between the top picks in each area. The trust has done this every year since 1973. Head Steve Grimmett has worked for the organisation for 20 years. He said: “This is the largest amount we have donated in Swindon in a generation.