A Safe Place appeal – Thank you

Dear friends 

Spring is in the air, the nights are lighter and we have made it through a particularly dark, wet, cold and very challenging winter. 

I am writing to thank you from the bottom of my heart for your support of our A Safe Place appeal which has raised over £100,000.  You helped us offer hope to many. You gave our team hope. You helped to save and change lives.

In all my years in the sector, I have never worked through, or witnessed, such a storm of pressure on the system of support for people experiencing or at risk of homelessness.

Thank you to all of the Simon Community team who have worked exceptionally hard to meet the almost overwhelming increase in demand for our support. 

We rose to the challenge, in the face of housing emergencies, accommodation shortages, the cost of living crisis and a UK government decision that placed enormous pressure and stress on local authorities, partnership organisations and people.

There were weeks where our Edinburgh and Glasgow Hubs were each providing over 700 supports a week. That is 200 (or more) supports per hub than what we were previously experiencing.

As I have previously written, the number of people rough sleeping, or at risk of rough sleeping, also increased significantly. Our Street and Hub teams regularly prevented 70-80 people a week from rough sleeping. 

Every night, we cared for over 100 people in our supported accommodation services across Edinburgh, Glasgow and Lanarkshire. And we helped hundreds more people through our outreach support. We also has 25 people staying in our own SCS Homes. 

With your help

Through this exceptionally challenging winter, your donations assisted us with;

• Resource – We were able to recruit extra resources to meet the demand for our services.
• Essential items – We were able to buy extra sleeping bags, winter clothing, toiletries, fuel and food vouchers. The shortage of accommodation meant that we had to regularly replenish people with new (and dry) sleeping bags and clothing.
• Safe and warm places – With emergency accommodation at capacity, your donations ensured that, in extreme weather conditions, we could support people into hotels. 

What next?

Simon Community Scotland is committed to providing safe places and support to people experiencing homelessness. The challenges that we face only fuel our energy and ambition to do even more. Our team is resilient, creative and innovative. 

• Later in April, we will release our Get Connected 500 report which highlights and underlines the importance of digital inclusion for people experiencing homelessness. Digital inclusion is essential for pathways out of homelessness and we are planning to do even more to embed this in our work as we move forward.
• In May, we will be opening the Connect Hub, a new dedicated safe place for women experiencing homelessness in Glasgow. This is a long held ambition at Simon Community Scotland and I am personally delighted that women we support have been instrumental in the design of the Hub and the programme of support. 

Your support makes an incredible difference;

• Your engagement on social media helps us know we are on the right path. 
• Your skills and experience bring so much to our team through volunteering. 
• Your friendship and partnership support ensure we are not alone. 
• And your donations and fundraising help us to provide safe places and support to hundreds of people experiencing homelessness every week.

Thank you so, so much. 

Please keep an eye on our website and social media channels for further updates.

Please share information about our hubs and helplines as something as simple as that could ensure someone gets the information, care and support they need to change and/or save their life.

And please, if you can, consider how you could help us this year.

Very best wishes

Lorraine

Lorraine McGrath, CEO