All News

10 Jun

"I need help" - Liam's Story (Case Study)

“I NEED HELP” – SSJ WAS THERE WHEN LIAM WAS READY TO TURN HIS LIFE AROUND Liam Crook has been talking to Project Worker Elizabeth Judkins about his journey to recovery and the part SSJ played in his recovery as part of our ’ 50 stories’ series.

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08 Jun

50 Years and 50 stories for our Golden Jubilee

50 years – Our Golden Jubilee Back in the summer of 1972 we saw the launch of the first digital watch, Atari set the video-game world in motion with Pong and the VW Beetle became the most popular car ever sold, with more than 15m sales since launch. That summer…

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07 Jun

News: Closure of Re-cycle Bikes

Re-Cycle Bikes to close in June 2021. In light of this we have stopped receiving donations and thus will no longer be able to collect donated bikes as from today (7/6/21). Re-Cycle would like to thank our supporters for the contributions they have made over the…

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21 Mar

National Recognition for scheme SSJ are part of

The BMA (British Medical Association) have written about a scheme – which has been publicised nationally and is something SSJ has been recognised for locally. This is another example of some of the great work done by SSJ and it is great to see this scheme mentioned nationally. ‘Knowing they…

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09 Mar

SSJ Featured in PCC Update

SSJ Operations Director Nicky Wilsenham has been featured in an update by the Association of Police Crime Commissioners Office. Nicky said: “The support received from the PCC’s office is invaluable and allows staff to offer a trauma-informed, strength-based approach to individuals with a history of homelessness and/or substance misuse issues.

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08 Mar

Interview with Senior Managers on COVID-19

Earlier this year, Dennis Jones, turned the spotlight onto our Senior Management team and asked them to reflect on what has happened since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. They discussed first reactions to lockdown 1 and their initial fears, shared stories from the frontline, and talked about…

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28 Jan

Christmas Appeal a success thanks to local support

In November 2020, we launched our Christmas Meal Appeal to provide a hot meal to people affected by homelessness. When approaching winter, we started thinking about what service users think about the festive season and asked them to talk about what they felt when it comes to…

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26 Jan

SSJ featured on Homeless Link Member Blog

SSJ Feature on Homeless Link Blog Homeless Link today published a blog by Nicole Forster and Bev Alder from SSJ. We secured funding from Homeless Link’s Ending Women’s Homelessness Fund and commenced the Horizon Project in November 2019 – and this blog focuses on the work we have been doing…

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30 Dec

Thank you from all at SSJ

We would just like to say a thank you to everybody who has supported SSJ in 2020. It has been a challenging year for everybody – but the support from people and businesses from across Hampshire has meant a great deal to SSJ staff and service users. We all hope…

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27 Dec

Irwin Mitchell Charites Foundation supports SSJ

We would like to thank the Irwin Mitchell Charites Foundation for supporting SSJ this Christmas. Michelle Jeffery, Business Development Manager at the Society of St. James, said: “Christmas is not a time of joy for all, as our recent campaign demonstrates.   “For many of the people…

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23 Dec

Christmas: Behind the scenes

It's been a busy few months as we go from another lockdown and into the Christmas season. Across our projects we are putting in an effort to make Christmas as joyous as possible for people who have a history of homelessness and addiction.

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20 Dec

Draper Tools support SSJ New Maintenance Unit

Draper Tools Support New Maintenance Facility With Donation We would like to say a huge thank you to local family business Draper Tools for the amazing donation of robust metal shelving for our exciting new maintenance unit in Southampton. This new facility will help us to better service our expanding…

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09 Dec

The Rotary Club of Southampton help spread Christmas Cheer

Christmas Cheer for SSJ Care Homes Thank you to the Rotary Club of Southampton for sharing festive cheer with the delivery of 40 Christmas hamper to our Care Homes this week. Donations like this make a big difference to our residents at Christmas, especially in what…

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23 Nov

Christmas Appeal Update

We are aware that times are hard for most people right now and that is why we are delighted that we have been able to meet our first target of £5,000 for our Christmas Meal Appeal. The first week saw unprecedented support from supporters across the South, helping us…

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19 Nov

Sikh Sewa Society provide delicious curries for SSJ

Sikh Volunteers Put Smiles on Faces with Curries There is something incredibly special and warming about a curry – and vulnerable adults across Southampton have been able to enjoy this feeling thanks to support from local Sikh Sewa Society. Lovingly prepared by volunteers from the Gurdwara Guru Tegh Bahadar Sahib…

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27 Oct

HSBC Staff Choose Hat, Scarf and a Laugh for SSJ

Hat, Scarf and a Laugh We are grateful to all the staff from HSBC in Hampshire who chose to support SSJ for World Homeless Week. I will leave you with words from Sue Young, a Retail Branch Manager for HSBC. “To support World homeless week we at HSBC…

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21 Oct

New Mountain Bikes thanks to Grant Award

Grant for Mountain Bikes will Benefit Service Users My Journey Community Grants and Southampton Council have awarded £4,000 to the Society of St James and Saints4Sport which will help pay for much-needed mountain bikes. Saints4Sport offers vulnerable people who have been affected by complex issues the chance to enjoy sporting…

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09 Oct

Jamies Computers - Helping you get Connected

Get Connected with Jamies Jamies Computers is proud to announce our collaboration with our Community Partners SO:Linked, TWICS, Drop The Mask Productions and more, to launch the “SO:Let’s Connect” project. The pilot is funded by SO18 Big Local and is therefore initially covering Townhill…

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05 Oct

SSJ supported by transatlantic law firm

Law Firm Support Makes a Difference Here at SSJ we are extremely lucky to be supported by so many socially minded local businesses and included in this are the wonderful team at the Southampton offices of transatlantic law firm, Womble Bond Dickinson. Last year the team…

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15 Sep

Grant means SSJ can continue to help key workers

The Society of St James has received funding to provide bikes for key-workers, as well as training for vulnerable adults in bike maintenance. The grant from My Journey Community Grants and Southampton Council means the team at Re-Cycle Bikes can continue refurbishing and delivering bikes to…

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02 Sep

2020 in review

2020 – The Strangest Year It’s been something of a strange year for all of us across the world. As a charity, we have faced many new challenges and had to adapt to what some are calling the ‘new normal’. Since our update in March we…

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28 Aug

New Van helps combat COVID-19 Impact

With thanks to funding from The National Lottery Community Fund, SSJ has been able to buy a new transit van that will help combat the impact on service users who have been forced to isolate. The previous van was prone to breaking down which would sometimes…

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13 Aug

Stories from Lockdown

In our recent newsletter, we wrote about the impact of COVID-19 on our service users. We think these stories are too important not to share have turned them into a blog to help you our 4-months of lockdown. Read part one of this blog by visiting this link.

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08 Aug

Behind the scenes - my 12 months at SSJ

My year of learning at SSJ Twelve months ago I started working at the Society of St James as their Social Media, Communications, and Marketing Officer. I remember my first day in the office like it was yesterday – turning up as early as I possibly could – after catching the 6am ferry from the Isle of Wight – my old home and arriving outside the doors at Albert Road South ready to start.

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04 Aug

Lockdown - How Life Changed for SSJ

Covid-19, A true community partnership On 23rd March 2020, life changed immeasurably in the UK as it had been doing and would continue to do so across the rest of the world. For those living on the street or without a secure place to live, this was a frightening and confusing time. The people of Portsmouth however were not slow to respond.

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22 Jul

Can you help with a ‘Raised Plant Bed’ project?

SSJ Hostel looking for garden bed donations: Now more than ever, we are realising the benefit of being outdoors. Many of us have spent the past few weeks and months tending to our gardens and becoming reacquainted with nature. The same has been happening at one of our homelessness hostels in Aldershot,…

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01 Jun

Live Music Event in Aid of SSJ

Livestream Event in aid of SSJ On Saturday June 13th, SEMSU (Society of Electronic Music - Southampton University) - a society focused towards the student and young adults population in Southampton, will be hosting a livestream of exciting music in aid of SSJ

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28 May

First Place for Southern Co-op Partnership

Our Partnership with The Southern Co-op has been recognised with a national award at the Third Sector Business Charity Awards. Announced on Wednesday, May 27th, the award saw SSJ and the Southern Co-op succeed in the short-term partnership award for the Love Your Neighbourhood programme. We are extremely proud to be judged to be the best by judges in a category that had such strong competition.

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15 May

New funding for bike project helps key workers

New funding from the Bike Bike Revival (Cycling UK) and Southampton City Council helps Re-Cycle Bikes get key workers moving during the Covid-19 outbreak.

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27 Apr

Social distancing - from service users to supporters

Louise Bolton, manager of the Family Support Project, has written a blog to help people cope with social distancing. Louise has been putting content together for our service users to help them cope, and we thought it might help our supporters too.

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24 Apr

Working co-operatively results in national award shortlisting

The Society of St James and Southern Co-op have been shortlisted for a national award at the Third Sector Business Charity Awards 2020. The two organisations have been shortlisted for the Short-term Partnership category, which recognises the work done by SSJ and Southern Co-op as part of the co-operative’s ‘Love Your Neighbourhood’ programme.

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14 Apr

New grant helps SSJ support the vulnerable during Covid-19 outbreak

The Society of St James is delighted to have been awarded a £10,000 grant from the National Emergencies Trust (NET) fund by the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Community Foundation. The funding aims to support local charities and grassroots organisations that have been impacted by Coronavirus and the funding is being distributed through a network of local community foundations. 

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07 Apr

Help brighten up every day for St James Care

It’s that time of the year when the blossom is falling from trees in the park, daffodils are filling gardens and hanging baskets are blooming with the bright joys of spring. At St James Care, our service users are vulnerable – and are isolated away from all signs…

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30 Mar

Social Distancing - keeping a healthy mind

Staying healthy and positive Due to restrictions set in place by the UK Government to combat Covid-19, some of our services have gone into hibernation. Projects such as ReFit help our service users the chance to find their way to a healthy and active mind. Whilst the services are…

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30 Mar

Support for SSJ from the Rotary Club of Southampton

We are delighted that the Rotary Club of Southampton has once again chosen to support SSJ. The funding will guarantee that the utility room at one our Supported accommodation projects in Southampton, can undergo a full refurbishment.

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27 Mar

Proud of our care and support workers

The tireless efforts of SSJ workers Last night, and quite rightly, the country came together to share their appreciation for the incredible work done by NHS staff members during the outbreak of Covid-19. We know how important care work is – especially in times like today.

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17 Mar

Case Study: Re-Cycling to learn new skills

How our Re-Cycle Bikes project helps our service users adapt to a working environment Re-Cycle Bikes is a Southampton based bike recycling workshop that is run by volunteers. We aim to sell and services bikes at affordable prices and allow people to volunteer from both the community and via Homeless services.

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09 Mar

Our International Women's Day

A successful IWD for our female service users This weekend saw the first of our events taking place in Portsmouth and Hampshire to give our female service users the chance to enjoy what most women see as a normal event. The events have been made possible thanks to the support from Homeless Link, Southern Co-op and HaHa Hairdressing academy.

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09 Mar

National Lottery funding is a boost for Re-Fit

Re-Fit Boost The Society of St James is delighted to have been awarded funding from The National Lottery Community Fund for two projects in 2020 and we would like to thank the National Lottery and its players for their support.

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03 Mar

What do you know about the Café in The Park?

What do you know about the Café in The Park? You might know that it is based in Victoria Park, Portsmouth. You might also know that it is one of our social enterprises and that it has become a popular go-to place for people in Portsmouth…

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03 Mar

Vital SSJ documents to be translated thanks to offer of support

Translation made easy for SSJ We at SSJ are really excited about the offer of support from Luke and the team at TranslationServices.com to translate some of our essential support documents into various languages. This will help make our services even more accessible to our service users who are already dealing…

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02 Mar

50th birthday celebrations raise money for SSJ

James chooses to support SSJ for his 50th We've posted about the many ways people have raised money for SSJ, but one, in particular, has come to the attention of the Society of St James. When approaching 2020, the year of his 50th birthday, James Morgan wanted to do something a little different - and asked friends and family to donate to SSJ - instead of buying him a traditional gift.

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01 Mar

IWD2020 - SSJ plans in full

We have finally confirmed all activities taking place for International Women’s Day. Our decision to hold events across the whole of the week, starting on Sunday 8th, was made so that we can give as many of our service users the chance to enjoy what is a normal life for people like us. We wanted to make sure that as many as possible could take advantage of a free haircut, some pampering, as well as other wellness activities.

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24 Feb

2020 - the year so far

It has been a very busy start to 2020 Coming off the back of our Christmas campaign, we wanted to try and find new ways to raise awareness about the work we do. We have spent the first two months of 2020 looking at new ways to engage with our supporters, and also creating new content on our website to help you understand more about the work we do.

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18 Feb

International Women's Day at SSJ

Events for IWD with SSJ Thanks to support from our partners Southern Co-op, and with funding from Ending Women’s Homelessness, SSJ are putting on a number of events for IWD, starting on March 8th and lasting the whole week.

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15 Feb

Case Study: Homeless Day Service

The first in a new series of case studies about our projects and services. This case study features our homeless day services. A day with The Society of St James' Homeless Day Services First Impressions On an overcast Monday morning I find myself walking along Milton Road – a long, busy main road that leads to St Mary's Hospital. I'm trying to find the Homeless Day Services centre, where I've volunteered to spend the day and write about for the Society of St James.

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11 Feb

Acts of Kindness

One moment can change a life February 17th is #RandomActsOfKindnessDay, and it got me thinking about what I have done recently to offer help or support to somebody in need. How often we walk by people who look like they are in trouble, not wanting to interrupt, or perhaps just too busy and in a rush – much like the white rabbit from Alice in Wonderland. "Oh dear! Oh dear! I shall be too late!"

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21 Jan

Solent Concert Orchestra raising money for SSJ

We're delighted that the Solent Concert Orchestra is supporting SSJ with it's concert at All Saint's Church, Freemantle, on 1st March.

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21 Jan

How you can help us long term

Every donation to SSJ makes a difference to the lives of those who are at risk of homelessness. This means that any time you donate to one of our campaigns, you are helping make a difference to the life of somebody who has been affected by homelessness - by giving us the chance to move them off the streets and into long-term accommodation.

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13 Jan

What is a 2020challenge?

When it comes to facing challenges, our service users know all about waking up each day with an obstacle to overcome. So when we were thinking about the best way to help vulnerable people in our care, we decided that it would be an interesting idea to get our supporters actively taking part in their own challenges.

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24 Dec

Thank you to James and Phil

Oh Christmas Tree... Running a race in the middle of winter can be hard work, so imagine taking part in an event where you decide to carry a Christmas tree on your back to raise money for SSJ.

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23 Dec

Christmas Appeal update

"The generosity of our supporters knows no bounds" It is with great pleasure that we can today announce that we have reached the target of £5,000, which will go towards providing a hot meal for people at risk of homelessness this Christmas.

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21 Dec

Patsy, gone but not forgotten

We have a blog from our CEO, Trevor Pickup, about a former resident of Albert Road South - and what he means to us all.

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12 Dec

SSJ Christmas Campaign Music Video....Enjoy!

The Society of St James' Christmas Campaign has been given a boost thanks to local band BEMIS, Mayfield Records and Tony Palmer Photo as they release a video in support of our campaign. 

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04 Dec

SSJ on BBC The World at One

Some of you may have heard the feature on BBC World at One yesterday, which focused on the difficulties had by our service users when it comes to finding a permanent place to live. The interview with SSJ service users begins 41 minutes in.

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25 Nov

Make a difference this Christmas

The Society of St James Christmas Campaign is now live, and we are looking to raise £5,000 to help vulnerable people in the area enjoy a better Christmas.

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18 Nov

Sleep Out 2019 - Thank you

We are delighted to have been pledged over £10,500 at our Sleep Out event in Portsmouth on Friday.  Thank you to our partners Southern Co-op, and our event supporters including, 2MV Logistics, Bishops Printers, Rapid Relief Team, Greggs, Starbucks, Mayfield Records, and…

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11 Nov

Proud of our Corporate Partners

This year we have worked hard to ensure that our corporate partners can really see what a difference they are making to vulnerable adults across Hampshire. We believe our partnerships have to be mutually beneficial providing funding, support and a raised profile for the charity; and for the corporate, an…

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07 Nov

Tampon Tax funding awarded to end women's homelessness

The Society of St James is one of 29 charities across England to receive a grant from Homeless Link’s Ending Women’s Homelessness programme.  The grant is funded by the Government’s Tampon Tax Fund and almost 200 organisations applied for a portion of the £1.85 million pot. SSJ will use…

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24 Sep

Portsmouth helps make 'Pay it Forward' a success

Following the successful launch of the Pay It Forward initiative at our Portsmouth-based Café in the Park earlier this year we are delighted to report that the scheme has been a truly heart-warming success! We launched Pay It Forward at an event back in July thanks to the…

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13 Sep

Are we one payday away from being homeless?

A blog from the CEO, Trevor Pickup. As the Chief Executive one of my tasks is sometimes to be part of an interview panel when we are recruiting.  When we interview candidates for a job in one of our housing projects, one of the interview questions we normally ask is why to do you think people become homeless.

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20 Aug

Cross Channel Challenge to raise money for SSJ

Good luck to the Shirley Swimming Pool Sea Dogs Ashley Christopher, Team Leader – Saints4Sports and Re-Fit, is taking part in an unenviable task to raise money for The Society of St James. Ashley, alongside fellow swimmers Chris Cole, Dave Perry, Luke Perry, Steve Hansford, and reserve swimmer Natasha Bye-Brooks,…

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06 Aug

Southern Co-operative continue their support of SSJ

Southern Co-operative continue to support SSJ Southern Co-op colleagues have been working really hard to find different ways to support the work of the charity, and on Friday, it was the turn of Southern Co-op’s Chief Executive, Mark Smith and his senior leadership team. They met with SSJ’s Senior…

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05 Aug

Enterprise Flex-E-Rent present cheque to SSJ

£2,000 raised to support new shared housing. Last Tuesday, (30th), Natalie and Helen from Enterprise Flexi-E-Rent presented SSJ chief exec Trevor Pickup and Operational Director, Nicky Wilsenham, with a £2,000 cheque to support the purchase of new shared houses for those with a history of homelessness. Trevor said “we…

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09 Jul

Portsmouth Community Pay It Forward!

Victoria Park in Portsmouth was buzzing last Tuesday as we launched a Pay It Forward initiative at our Social Enterprise Café in the Park. The launch was a huge success and we owe a big THANK YOU to our Southern Co-op partners whose head office selected the Society of St James…

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07 May

See you soon, Jane

This time last week we said ‘see you soon’ to a pivotal member of our Senior Management Team, Jane Smith. Jane first joined SSJ as an Operations Director in February 2008 and since then has been responsible for a wide variety of our projects, including areas of our drug…

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26 Apr

SSJ Wins Nationwide Community Grant

We are delighted to announce that SSJ has been successful in the Nationwide Community Grant Fund for 2019. Building society, Nationwide, has made £500,000 available to help support charities dealing with housing in the South West area. The successful projects were officially announced in April of this year, with…

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12 Mar

Safer Communities Funding

SSJ’s Cafe in the Park Receives Safer Communities Funding. Those involved with SSJ’s Cafe in the Park in Portsmouth are delighted to have received another year of funding from the Hampshire Police and Crime Commissioner’s Safer Communities Fund.  The Cafe is a supported work project to provide employment and…

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20 Feb

Join the team for ABP Southampton Marathon 2019

Join Team SSJ at this year’s Southampton ABP Marathon! When: Sunday 5th May Where: Starting in Guildhall Square, Southampton Register: Via the ABP website, here Our runners have helped raise over £15,000 in the last few years, all of which has helped us to…

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07 Jan

St James Care Rated 'Outstanding'

When asked, ‘Is the service responsive to the needs of it’s clients?’, the Care Quality Commission have rated St James Care as Outstanding! During the most recent inspection by CQC – the independent regulator of health and social care in England, staff at our specialist care home were recognized for…

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02 Nov

The Recovery All-Stars Rock At The AGM

Our 2018 AGM took place in the Markus Liebherr Lounge at St Mary’s Stadium on Thursday 25th October. With this year’s theme of ‘success’, guests shared in some of the achievements and successes clients and staff have made over the last twelve months. As well as a keynote speech from…

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16 Oct

Southampton Property Association hold charity dinner in aid of SSJ

In a fun filled evening at the Grand Harbour Hotel, the Southampton Property Association’s annual charity dinner raised an impressive £8,919.70 in aid of SSJ. We were delighted to be the beneficiaries of this event, which featured a Hollywood Glamour theme and a whole range of fundraising activities. Guests had…

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06 Aug

Support SSJ in the Rushmoor Community Lottery

Be in with the chance to win up to £25,000 each week! Created by Rushmoor Borough Council, Rushmoor Community Lottery gives you the opportunity to directly support local good causes, whilst being in with a real chance to win some money yourself. At just £1 per week, each ticket has a…

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01 Jul

Sweet Charity Choir raise the roof for SSJ

A huge thank you to Sweet Charity Choir who raised a fantastic £1,725.19 for us at the end of June 2018! In their debut performance at St James Road Methodist Church in Southampton, the choir’s Dorset Branch sang a range of songs across all genres, including Pop, Rock, Indie, Gospel and…

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