We believe our partnerships have to be mutually beneficial providing funding, support and a raised profile for the charity; and for the corporate, an opportunity to build the brand, good public relations and the chance to really make a difference to help vulnerable adults turn their lives around.

We have been approached by no less than 15 local businesses since the start of the year offering their support to those with a history of homelessness – “this is just amazing and demonstrates the passion that local businesses have for supporting what is a very visible and current issue” says SSJ’s Business Development Manager, Michelle Jeffery.

The Society of St James has a lot of properties that need regular refurbishment and local businesses can save the charity up to £1,000 a day by providing a team of workers to do some decorating or gardening work. Some of them even come with money they have raised to purchase the materials required to complete the job.

Those taking part have a lot of fun but with the knowledge that they are making the lives of vulnerable adults just that little bit more tolerable. One participant from a large financial institution said “thank you so much for organising the day, we had lots of fun as a team and came away feeling like we had accomplished something”.

We love working with our corporate partners, those that turn up on the day give so much of themselves and really commit to doing a good job. Stewart, our Project Manager says “working with the corporate volunteers is great; they are always so willing to get stuck in and get the job done”.

Recently we were approached by local provider of technology solutions and services, SoftCat, to ask what they could do to help support those with a history of homelessness. They have committed to providing a team every quarter to support our maintenance work which is wonderful. Their first project was to transform a garden at one of the houses that supports those who are homeless and have alcohol dependency. The team were delighted when one of the residents decided he wanted to get involved and work with them on the garden.

Of course Corporate Partners can support the work that we do in other ways. When we were selected by colleagues at the Southern Co-op‘s Head Office in Portsmouth at the end of last year we had no idea what an exciting partnership lay ahead. They demonstrated the level of their commitment immediately by throwing the full weight of their marketing and PR resource behind our Pay It Forward initiative that has been so successful.

Since then they have been involved in so many parts of our business including looking at training opportunities, purchasing and property and most recently became our lead sponsor for our Sleep Out event in November. “It just takes a little time and commitment on both sides to have those initial creative thinking meetings to explore how we can help each other” says Michelle Jeffery Business Development Manager.

And the benefit of having the Southern Co-op on hand is an obvious one for Annette Davolls, Cafe in the Park Service Manager, she said: “there is barely a day goes by when there isn’t some correspondence with a part of the Southern Co-op Head Office team whether it’s to tell us about money that has been raised, throw in a new idea, offer some more resource or donations of products.”

Annette continued: “The most wonderful part has been to see the interaction between the vulnerable adults we work with and the colleagues from Southern Co-op and to see what a positive impact this is having on the self-esteem of our service users.”

We launched Pay It Forward at an event back in July thanks to the generous support of Southern Co-op. We welcomed representatives from the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner,  local councillors and council staff as well as many members of the local community to the event, all of whom kick-started the donations. Since the launch, the generous Portsmouth community have donated 689 vouchers.

Staff and volunteers at the Café have been blown away by the generosity of the Café’s patrons; Café Manager Annette said “to be able to give out vouchers to disadvantaged people, have a chat with them, to be able to give a dad a voucher who otherwise would not be able to afford an ice-cream for his child on a hot day is just awe-inspiring”.  A staff member said “The homeless are so grateful – it’s great to be able to help them”.  Our chef told me proudly that “we’ve even had kids donating”.  All the customers think it’s a great idea and many have wondered why more Cafes don’t do the same thing!

As the vouchers are being distributed to the less fortunate word is getting out and patrons have been delighted to witness first-hand the benefits this single act of kindness can bring.  Craig said “It really helps with breaking the ice with the homeless – it’s great to get to know them.”

Craig continued: “patrons are asked to write comments to accompany the voucher, a recent patron wrote “hoping this little bit of kindness can bring warmth to your heart, a smile to your face and brighten your day…Enjoy.”

Initiated by staff at the Café, some of whom have experienced life on the streets, Pay It Forward is a way for the public to show they care by buying a voucher for someone less fortunate. In exchange for a £2 donation, those who are disadvantaged can get a hot drink or seasonal snack at the Café.  We then ensure that the vouchers are given to someone facing multiple disadvantages such as homelessness, poverty and/or substance misuse and will offer signposting to support if appropriate.

The Café in Victoria Park in Portsmouth is yet again going to be the focus of The Society of St. James’ activities when it plays host to the first Portsmouth based SSJ Sleep Out in November.  Supporters of the charity will collect sponsorship money to sleep out under the stars, so why not register now and join us in Victoria Park this November.

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 Management team at the Cafe in the Park, for an exploratory lunch.

Not only has Southern Co-op put the full weight of its communication and community teams behind the Pay it Forward campaign, at the Cafe in the Park, Portsmouth, but colleagues are also working hard to explore new ways to work with SSJ on future campaigns – to continue their work to help support the most vulnerable in society.

Speaking about the meeting on Friday (2nd), Chief Executive of the Society of St James, Trevor Pickup, said: “both organisations agreed to spend some time describing what we did, to see what natural areas of overlap may exist. This has the potential of us both being able to share relevant skills and experience, to the benefit of both organisations. I am excited to see what may develop as we get to know each other better.”

As part of their continued support, SSJ was chosen by colleagues at Southern Co-op’s head office to be their charity of the year.

We continue to be amazed by Southern Co-op’s commitment to us as a charity and we can’t wait to see where the partnership goes next!