Planning a company Christmas party this year?

If your company is planning a Christmas Party this year, could we ask you to consider giving £1 per person to help a local charity support people who are homeless?

St Petrock's has been providing emergency survival services as well as advice and referral to local people in crisis for over 18 years. In that time, we have helped over 10,000 individuals. In the last 12 months, we have helped 1,396 homeless and vulnerably housed people through our services and 806 have been supported into accommodation.

This winter, again, we plan to open up the centre during periods of extreme cold/wet weather and encourage rough sleepers to come inside. We can't offer clients their own beds but we can offer blankets and dry sleeping bags to bed down in and hot drinks/snacks... not to mention friendly, welcoming staff.

Last year, we provided 98 bed spaces over 14 nights of sub zero temperatures. Our centre is always open on Christmas and Boxing Day for those who need shelter and who have nowhere else to go. A full festive menu is provided on both days...all thanks to donations from the local community. So why are we asking for more? Well, it costs over £350k a year to run St Petrock's emergency, advice and accommodation services. Having professionally trained staff to work with our vulnerable client group is essential which means that the bulk of our expenditure is on staff costs. We do, however, also benefit from the services of some 30 volunteers who help in the kitchen, or with fundraising activities and we could not survive without their contribution.

Most of our funding comes from trusts and other organisations, however, in the current economic environment, securing funding is now more competitive and challenging. We have been fortunate, historically, to receive some 25% of our funding from the local community, churches, schools and groups but in the current financial climate this may not be possible. So we're asking companies in Exeter to support us this Christmas and help some of the most vulnerable people in our city. If your company would like to support St Petrock's, please contact Gill Luckings at gill@stpetrocks.org.uk.