World Homeless Day, observed internationally on 10 October every year, aims to raise awareness about the needs of people who currently experience homelessness alongside promoting the work in local communities like ours to alleviate suffering, and prevent death.
This international day serves as a platform to celebrate good works, benchmark progress, advocate for improved policies and funding that can help prevent and end homelessness.
Who do we support?
Currently we are supporting nearly 30 people, from a variety of backgrounds, aged between 18-50 years old; four of these are women.
Each person who comes through our door has different needs; they have different life challenges and trauma and require different levels and types of support.
What do we do?
As well as providing the basics many of us take for granted (food, warmth, washing and laundry facilities), we offer the most vulnerable in our community vital access to appropriate services in a space where they feel respected, safe and secure.
Taking a truly ‘person-centred’ holistic approach, our experienced support workers take the time to listen, encourage and support a person to make positive change.
In familiar surroundings away from judgemental looks in waiting rooms, people coming through our doors know that any agency or service coming in to contact with them in our day centre is there to help. In collaboration with many organisations, we are able to offer a range of health and mental care services.
But it’s not just about health and mental health; a vital, often over-looked, component in a person’s support is meeting their emotional needs and building self-confidence and self-reliance.
Creative activities, delivered by a variety of individuals and organisations help discover hidden talents, while our partnership with The Food Hub gives people an essential life skills which was never taught – how to cook nutritious food on a budget.
Activities such as these contribute to personal development, and as a result, better physical and mental health and better self-worth.
With the help from the Council, in the last 6-months, we have helped 24 individuals move into permanent accommodation.
As Matty, who uses our services, says: “The support now is perfect. If it wasn’t for The Ark, I’d be dead now—it’s a lifesaver. Thank you."
Raising awareness: ‘No Fixed Abode’ photography exhibition
See some insightful pictures and learn a bit more about the people who use our services and their experiences living on the street in the photography exhibition by 18-year-old photographer Grace Church at The Gateway Gallery in Shrewsbury until 15 November 2024.
“For my final exam I chose to look into homelessness, as one of the topics given by the exam board was to ‘Raise Awareness of an Issue Through The Power Of Art’,” explains Grace. She had already taken pictures around town, not of people, but of situations, of tents, of sleeping bags, of symbols of homelessness.
Then she thought about asking if people who are experiencing homelessness could take pictures for her too. And that’s where we came in!
Read more about this Photography Exhibition on the My Shrewsbury website here.
Huge thank you to everyone who made this exhibition happen.
We really encourage you to take a look - it really does gets right to the heart of homelessness in our town.
Want to support homeless and vulnerable people?
Here are some ideas to support us to help the homeless and vulnerable in Shropshire:
Have a ‘Spring Clean’ of your clothing and household items and donate them to our charity shop at 14 Castle Street.
Write to your local MP about the need for social housing
Use the Give as You Live shopping portal to buy from 1000s of retailers online to raise funds for us at no cost to you.
Visit our wish list on Amazon - these items are things we can’t afford but would be a huge morale boost for our clients
Make a donation via our page on the Charities Aid Foundation. Click here to make a regular or one-off donation online now. (Please remember to Gift Aid your donation – This means we will receive tax benefits and help ensure your donation goes further.)
And please do spread the word about what we do; there are a lot of misconceptions about us!
If you meet people who have misconceptions about what we do, invite them to come and visit us. We are always happy to make a cup of tea and have a chat to explain what we do.
We NEVER charge for our day centre services and we are funded entirely by grants and donations.
Thank you to everyone who supports us!
Everything we are able to do to support vulnerable people in our community is because of your generosity.
Give us a shout out and follow us on social media: we’re active on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram.
