Campaigners' appeal to raise £7,000 for new lifeline service for Malvern's homeless - The Malvern Observer

Campaigners' appeal to raise £7,000 for new lifeline service for Malvern's homeless

Malvern Editorial 21st Sep, 2019   0

CAMPAIGNERS fighting to open the doors of a new lifeline for homeless people in Malvern have revealed they need to raise £7,000 in order to open the new base before Christmas.

Malvern Cares is a recently-formed group of Malvern charities, residents and councillors including the Malvern Hills Foodbank, Churches Together in Malvern, the Salvation Army and Lyttelton Well.

They are working with the Maggs Day Centre charity to raise funds and provide a safe space at the Salvation Army Hall on Newtown Road where people struggling with problems of homelessness can find advice and support.

The Maggs Day Centre Malvern will be open two mornings each week to help homeless and vulnerable people in the area raise their self-confidence and change their lives. If sufficient funding can be raised by the end of October, the centre will be operating before Christmas.




Campaigners have stepped up their efforts to open the doors of a new venue in a bid to tackle the frequent sight of rough sleepers on Malvern streets.

The new centre will be open to all who are homeless or at risk of homelessness in Malvern, especially vulnerable people who are isolated geographically or socially from other people and/or from local authority and other services.


More than 100 people were frequent users of the Malvern Hills Foodbank last year and many of them are likely to benefit from the new centre.

At present Maggs outreach workers helping the homeless in Malvern have to meet them on the streets or in cafes or the library. The Maggs Day Centre Malvern will have a shower and a laundry and provide simple meals for breakfast and lunch to encourage people in need to visit.

A regular day centre in Malvern will also enable Maggs to work in one place with local volunteers and providers of other services such as mental and physical health or life-skills to provide a wider range of services for those in need.

The cost to set up the Salvation Army Hall in Malvern as a day centre and for Maggs to recruit, train and employ staff for an initial six month period will be £25,000.

By working together Malvern Cares and Maggs have already received pledges for almost three quarters of that sum, but £7,000 must be raised quickly if the new day centre is to open before Christmas this year.

An appeal for further funds to continue operations beyond six months will be launched when the centre is up and running.

Coun Samantha Charles, who founded Malvern Against Homelessness, said: “Maggs have already secured a large proportion of the funds needed but we need to raise another £7,000 locally to open the centre before Christmas, one year after the very sad death of local man Joby Sparrey on the streets of our town.”

Visit https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/MalvernCares for more.

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