Christmas is coming! Our virtual advent calendar is launching on our social media channels today, featuring original poetry written by people with lived experience and performed by service users, volunteers and members of the SSJ team.

The poems communicate different aspects of homelessness, covering topics including drug misuse, mental health issues, and addiction recovery.

The calendar also shows how you can donate to specific causes, such as buying a hot meal or a Christmas gift for our service users. Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter (X) to unveil the advent doors throughout December!

This Christmas, Society of St James aim to raise £15,000 to help support people experiencing homelessness in Southampton, Portsmouth and across Hampshire. We hope that this appeal will help to break the stigma surrounding homelessness and fund essential services and support for vulnerable people this Christmas and throughout the year.

SSJ will be working with local businesses to encourage fundraising events such as Christmas Jumper Days and cake sales to help reach our £15,000 target. The charity urges businesses to share photos of their fundraisers on social media, tagging them and using the hashtag #SSJChristmas.

Chief Executive Trevor Pickup said:

 “Homelessness is a complex and often misunderstood issue that affects thousands across our region. Many people face stigma, discrimination, and isolation because of their housing situation. They are often blamed for their own misfortune, or ignored by society.

But we believe that everyone deserves dignity, respect and compassion. That’s why we are launching this campaign to raise awareness and funds for our work with people who are homeless and are facing multiple problems. We want to show them that they are not alone, that they are valued, they have hope for the future and that we will carry on supporting them despite what can often present as a protracted and cyclical journey to independence.”

To get involved, visit our social media channels today, or visit our dedicated Christmas Appeal page to view our fundraising packs and learn more about our fundraising goals.

SSJ provides a comprehensive range of services, including hostels, transitional housing, substance misuse services and an academy of life skills classes, volunteering, sport and craft opportunities. By successfully implementing these services, the organisation challenges the stigma associated with homelessness, provides support and rehabilitation, and promotes sustainable solutions to reduce the number of individuals experiencing homelessness.

Inspired by the IOM Snowdon trip, committed and brave fundraiser, Lenny Court, aged 9, also decided to climb Mount Snowdon in July to raise funds to support people who have been rough sleeping.

Lenny has been supporting our work since he was 5 collecting donations to help the homeless starting with 100 coats in 2019, 200 hats, gloves and scarfs in 2020, 300 shoes in 2021 and 400 toiletry items in 2022.  For 2023 he is aiming to raise £500 to buy welcome packs for rough sleepers moving into temporary accommodation.

Lenny’s dedication and determination were truly inspiring. With the support of his mum, Rachel, and a heart full of compassion, he tackled the mountain with the spirit of a true adventurer. “We had such a brilliant time,” Rachel shared. “Lenny was up that mountain like a whippet! He was so proud of himself, chatting with anyone and everyone about what he was doing and who for. It was just brilliant!”

Climbing Snowdon was no easy feat, but Lenny refused to give up. The purpose behind his climb served as a driving force, pushing him forward even when the going got tough. “I never gave up,” added Lenny. “I was thinking about all the homeless people I could help get off the streets and have better lives.”

Lenny’s heartfelt efforts touched the hearts of many, and the response was overwhelming. Not only did he achieve his initial goal of £500, but he went above and beyond, raising a total of £1170! His dedication and the generosity of those who supported him meant that more rough sleepers would receive the essential welcome packs they deserved.

Lenny’s journey reminds us all that age is just a number when it comes to making a difference in our society. He proves that a small act of kindness can create a ripple effect of compassion and change. We are immensely grateful to Lenny for his selfless commitment to improving the lives of others.

Thank you, Lenny, for being a shining example of how one young heart can make a big impact. Your efforts have not only provided tangible support to those in need but have also shown us the true meaning of compassion and empathy.

As a charity that supports people affected by homelessness and complex issues such as a history of trauma with subsequent alcohol dependency or drug addiction, we are always looking for ways to brighten up the lives of the individuals we support.

Fundraising for SSJ is a great way to show your support – knowing that the money you raise goes to support and help those who traditionally have nothing at all.

We recently released a video where CEO Trevor Pickup talks a little about the properties we buy and refurbish and how that benefits our service users in giving them a chance to move on into their own accommodation and the effect that has on their mental wellbeing.

Most people who have been impacted by homelessness have no ID, no decent clothes to attend job interviews and occasionally need help to travel to and from job interviews and training.

This is where your help with fundraising for us comes in by helping to fund the refurbishment of properties ring-fenced for those who have been homeless and to help them move on in life.

Here are 5 ways you can fundraise for SSJ and help make a difference to our service users and residents.

Think up a theme

Why not spend your day at work wearing a hat that you have made, or perhaps spend a day at your desk in a sleeping bag. Think about something you and your colleagues will enjoy and raise money by getting people to sponsor you to build, create or do.

Host a Quiz

Get as many friends together – staying as socially distanced as possible and host a quiz. Or why not live-stream a quiz on Youtube and share it across community groups. We’d suggest setting up tickets to attend (Eventbrite is good for this) and send the link for live streaming an hour before the quiz goes live.

Tennis Teams

Get together with a group of friends at a tennis court and have 10 or more on each side – when somebody misses the ball somebody takes their place. Each person is sponsored for 10/20p for every ball missed. Our comms man Dennis once did this and it is a lot of fun to do.

E-Treasure Hunt

Why not be the new Anneka Rice and set up a treasure hunt for friends and family. We’d suggest a £5 entry fee – do it digitally and set up pages and clues across the internet that lead to one big prize. From a web page with a puzzle to solve leading to a newly set up social media channel – we’d be happy to help by storing the final answer somewhere for you….

Keep it Simple

Sometimes the best ways to raise money are the simple ones. Run, walk, jog, climb, walk, bike, whatever you want to do to raise money for SSJ – it all helps make a massive difference to those we look after – so go raise money and have a fantastic summer of fundraising for SSJ!

Are you already raising money for SSJ? Let us know and we can share it on our channels. Email Comms@SSJ.org.uk

• £30 raised could buy one person much needed ID
• £40 raised could give one week of travel to interviews or training
• £50 raised could buy an outfit for a job interview

In 2022 The Society of St James turns 50. From now till July next year we will be publishing 50 stories from SSJ – such as the incredible journey of Liam which was released last week. Let us know if you want to raise money for us in our jubilee year. Email Dennis.Jones@SSJ.org.uk

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. “Individuals with complex needs are given a place of safety to begin to address underlying issues. Wrap-around support and exceptional partnership working have contributed to a significant reduction in crime and positive move on to sustained independent living.”

Read more HERE (head to page 44)

Thank you to the Hampshire PCC for all your support.

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.

Back in November we launched our Christmas Appeal to raise money so we can provide a delicious hot Christmas meal to as many of our services users as possible. Alongside this we put together a ‘non-contact’ option for people to purchase gifts for vulnerable adults just to make sure our appeal was as COVID free as possible.

When we spoke to service users during August and September, we asked them for their thoughts on Christmas which made up the basis for our appeal in 2020. Hearing words such as hurt, anger, frustration, pain, sadness about a time we all know to be about joy, love, happiness was difficult to hear, but it cemented just how much we want to do to offer a positive festive season for them.

The Staff Make the Difference

As always, Project Managers and Support Workers across the charity are spending many hours, days and weeks putting together plans for our service users to enjoy the best Christmas possible under current conditions.

CEO of SSJ, Trevor Pickup said: “Many of our staff will be working over the Christmas period, as the needs of many people do not stop over the holiday period.   This year, staff have more to deal with than normal, with the virus making life more difficult and complex.  I appreciate the commitment of my colleagues to continue and to carry on, during this challenging time, and thank them for all their work.”

We receive many positive comments about our work on social media, as well as Just Giving and these comments help boost the morale of staff at difficult times.

Thank you to everybody who has left a positive comment or supported our Christmas Campaign. You make a massive difference to the morale of staff and service users.

Our Christmas Appeal is still running, if you want to support the campaign please click here.

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 reach more than £1,000 within the first 7 days – all leaving powerful messages on LinkedIn which will be shared with staff in the organisation to boost morale.

We reached our original target of £5,000 on Friday, thanks to a generous donation from the team at Garmin, based in Southampton, who donated the £5,000 which would have been spent on their staff Christmas Meal.

This means that there are people affected by homelessness who will be able to enjoy a hot meal at a time of the year when they can feel so alone. Our campaign has been built on their own descriptions of how Christmas makes them feel – from cold to lonely, and from stressed to angry – so we can now make sure we invest time and effort into giving them a different kind of Christmas to the one they are accustomed to.

Help us do more:

We would love to keep the fundraising going to we can look ahead at what we can do next year to give people affected by homelessness the chance to change their lives.

With this in mind, any money raised above the £5000 target will go towards helping vulnerable people take the next step forward in 2021 by buying I.D, bus passes, smart clothes for job interviews, and more.

Anything you can do to help is greatly appreciated and if you can continue to support our appeal, it will change many lives in 2021.

You can continue to support the appeal by clicking here.

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 raised a significant amount of money, matched by funding from the organisation’s trust, to ensure that our service users received some Christmas cheer.

This month; the team came to our rescue by offering to work on a commercial lease on a pro bono basis relating to the purchase of a light industrial unit and associated office space.

This purchase will allow us to provide a more efficient maintenance and repair service for our vulnerable residents.

We are very grateful to the staff at Womble Bond Dickinson who have taken the time to support the important work that The Society of St James does to prevent homelessness.

Jonathan Hobbs, a real estate partner with WBD said: “It has been a pleasure working with and providing support to the Society of St James. Everyone at the Southampton office really got stuck in raising funds for the Society of St James last Christmas, and it has been excellent to be able to provide some pro bono work for them too.

“It is important for us as a firm to do what we can, so it has been rewarding for us to be able to offer something back to the Society of St James, as an important charity for our community.”

World Homeless Day

October 10th is World Homeless Day and we are raising money to support the vulnerable individuals we work with to move forward, for example by bridging a rental gap when they first start working; or buying a suit for their first interview; or costs for securing necessary identification or even essential white goods when they move off the street and into accommodation.

As little as £15 could buy identification – click here to help.