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HARP
Newsletter
October
2007
Dear Friends of HARP,
In the lead up to
Christmas, September, October and November become frantic months for
Homeless Charities such as HARP in order for us to make the most of
this time of year which is traditionally a ‘time of giving’. It is
also a time of harvesting for us, as once the euphoria of the
celebrations subside after 1st January, purse strings have to be
pulled in tight in order for people to survive the long dark cold
winter days and nights. Surviving these dark months ahead can be
daunting enough for those of us who are blessed with somewhere to
live in warmth and comfort, but it doesn’t bear thinking about how
those who are forced to sleep rough really cope with such discomfort
and distress. HARP is extremely grateful to all the local schools
and churches within our community who have so kindly and generously
provided our services with stocks of food to help feed our clients
during the winter months of 2008. With our ‘Day Centre’ in Valkyrie
Road having provided 6,700 meals and 1.700 food parcels during the
past twelve months, we still need to continually stock our
provisions and therefore request that our ‘Friends of HARP’ continue
to assist us in keeping our stocks at a level to meet the demand
from the hungry people who depend on this area of HARP’s services.
There is a detailed ‘Wish List’ on our website:
www.harpsouthend.co.uk should you be in a position to
pass the word on to others who may wish to help us. We would also
like to thank each of you for your generous support.
The Youth Council of
Southend led by the Youth Mayor George Kemp have offered tremendous
support to HARP in recent months. In their endeavours to help raise
funds for the Homeless, we arranged a ‘walk’ to highlight “The Youth
Mayor’s Homeless Awareness Day”. This initiative was immediately
supported by the Head teachers from Southend High School for Boys
and Westcliff High School for Boys.
There were
approximately forty or so walkers on the day itself and we wish to
sincerely thank everyone who turned up on the day. We were also
privileged to be joined by local actress Kierston Wareing who
appears in the latest award winning Ken Loach film “It’s a Free
World”. This event has raised in excess of £1,000 and this included
a donation from Mayor Daphne White in support of The Youth Council
and the Homeless.
The latter part of
September provided ground breaking achievements for some HARP
clients. With funding received from the Essex Community Foundation
through their Local Network Fund for Children and Young People, we
were able to organise a week long Sailing Trip for some of HARP’s
young clients. This trip was made possible through ‘match funding’
from The Cirdan Sailing Trust and this enabled some of our
volunteers and a couple of more mature clients to also benefit from
such a wonderful opportunity. The team leader Phil Greenwood, who is
a HARP Trustee and a very experienced sailor, was ably assisted by
one of HARP’S Residential Workers Paul Cozins and the benefit to
every client who was part of this amazing trip is incalculable.
Every one of them achieved a “Royal Yachting Association Competent
Crew Qualification”. To receive such a qualification is not
achieved automatically, it has to be earned through sheer hard work
and determination. These clients represented HARP in the best
possible way and they should be proud of their achievements, because
we are all very proud of them. We are also extremely grateful to the
organisations who provided us with the funds to make this
potentially life changing venture possible.
Finally, a big thank
you to all the young people of the YMCA Princes Trust who
volunteered to spend a week of their time to give a makeover to the
garden area at HARP’s Day Centre in Valkyrie Road.
“Learning
New Skills on the Sailing Trip”
George & Kierston
“The
Youth Mayor’s Homeless Awareness Walk”
Stephen Colyer
Head of Fundraising – PR & Media for HARP
Ph: 07946 324284 / 01702 471471
31st October 2007
HARP
Newsletter
September
2007
Dear Friends of HARP,
Yet again, the story
of HARP continued into September like an episode from a Drama
Series. In mid-August, the break-in at Valkyrie Road left everyone
shocked and upset. “Why?” was the main reaction from everyone. Why
would anyone want to steal from people who have nothing? There was
just a few hundred pounds, a vital few hundred pounds it should be
stated, that makes all the difference when feeding hungry people at
our Day Centre. The staff were deeply upset by this as was everyone
within HARP. The
Echo were
equally incensed at this dreadful act and immediately leapt into
action by sending a journalist and a photographer to the premises to
obtain a story. The very next day there was almost a full page
dedicated to highlight this heinous crime against the homeless
featuring a picture of Debbie Perry as HARP’s representative. This
article was on the Tuesday. On the Thursday there was Debbie again
gracing the front page of the
Echo’s
sister paper The
Southend Standard.
Then the following week there was more coverage in the
Echo
highlighting the kind generosity of people within our local
community. A total of £1,400 has been donated. A housebound disabled
lady called up for someone to collect a cheque from her for £250.
Another lady called Shirley dropped by the Day Centre to hand in her
donation of £200. The Taoist Tai Chi organisation in Southend held a
collection and handed us a cheque for £413. There were further
donations that brought this fantastic total to us and it goes
without saying just how very grateful we all are for these wonderful
acts of kindness. So, out of bad comes good and we obtained a
positive result. Maybe someone up there is smiling down on us after
the unhappy and unsettling start to 2007 for the entire service.
In continuing on a
positive note, a mention of Michael Webb is very high on the agenda.
In less than two short years, Michael has made leaps and bounds in
his brave efforts to fight off all that had troubled him for ten
long years. He continued to battle the elements over the weekend of
the Regatta with his stall collapsing on the first day and then the
heavy winds blowing his paintings off their stands and damaging some
of his pictures on the Sunday. I am convinced not many people would
have ‘stuck it out’ for too long before they packed up and went
home, but not Michael, he hung in there right until the very end.
His efforts were not only to raise some money for HARP, but equally
to represent us in the best possible light and this he most
certainly did. He was thrilled when the Youth Mayor arrived at his
pitch to discuss his efforts. The
Echo afforded
us a full page on Michael with a large picture in this coverage.
This was not only a huge boost for Michael, but also a tremendous
endorsement to the work of HARP’s staff and volunteers.
Michael Webb meets
local Stars
Michael
with The Youth Mayor George Kemp and with HARP’s Chairman of the
Trustees Richard Hair.
A
note received via the HARP email address:
Hi, I bought a picture from Michael Webb at the Leigh
Regatta on Saturday. I would like to say that he was extremely
helpful and the work that he had done was very professional. His
customer service was good and he delivered the pictures to our
house. He was very complimentary about the work that you have done
with him in getting his life back together. I would like to thank
you for the excellent work that you have done. I work with
disadvantaged people and do not get the opportunity to know how they
fare in the outside world. Michael is a fantastic example of the
work you do. Thank you. Regards, Jill Farey-Humphrey / The Gateway
Consultancy. This speaks volumes for everyone involved with
HARP.
Late News! Southend High School for Boys have
donated one thousand & four hundred items to HARP from their
Harvest Festival collection for us and according to one of their
senior teachers, this is an unprecedented effort on behalf of the
entire school. Fantastic.
Stephen Colyer
Head of Fundraising – PR & Media for HARP
Ph: 07946 324284 / 01702 471471
30th September 2007
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