We recently paid a visit to the Gravesend Community Hub to learn more about the great work they’re doing. As part of our Foundation commitment, we recently donated £9,900 to support their drop in hub for the homeless.
The Hub works to humanise homelessness and provides a fantastic service to some of the most vulnerable residents in Gravesend. It is an important safe space for their guests – the volunteers who help run the centre ensure people are looked after both mentally and physically. Since the start of the pandemic the Hub (based out of Gravesend Methodist Church) has remained open at least three days a week.
As many as 35 Guests visit the Hub each day. Guests can meet friends, have a shower, leave their laundry and enjoy some breakfast. Agencies such as Porchlight and CGL are also there to meet guests and provide support services all in one place. The Hub also runs a foodbank and can provide essentials such as clothing, tents and sleeping bags.
The Hub is now the first place that vulnerable people come for support and since the beginning of the pandemic the numbers using the Hub have grown considerably.
Gravesham Borough Council nominated The Hub in our first round of Foundation funding.
Cllr Jenny Wallace, Gravesham Borough Council’s Cabinet Member for Housing Services, said: “The Hub plays a vital role in supporting the Borough’s rough sleepers. It is somewhere they know they can go to find shelter, support and advice and a central point where ourselves, our public sector partners and charities can meet with some of the most vulnerable people in our community and give them all the help we can. [SEC’s] generous donation will help support The Hub’s invaluable work.”
How you can help the Hub…
Apart from grants such as ours, the Hub relies purely on donations. Donations help to fund the core service, such as staffing which is essential for the Hub to operate successfully in the long run.
Vicki Clarke, Centre Manager, said: “We rely on grants and donations to fund our projects and what we really need is regular donations to enable us to provide food and give us the flexibility to adapt and purchase necessary supplies when we need them. It would also help if people followed us on social media and helped to spread the word of what we do.”
Learn more about The Hub and how you could help here – Daytime Drop in for Homeless (gravesendmethodistchurch.org.uk).
Follow our specific Foundation Linked In page here.
