St Petrock's shortlisted for Guardian Charity Awards

The Guardian Charity Awards 2013 shortlist, announced today, has St Petrock’s, Exeter’s charity for people who are homeless, among its list of successful charities. Five of these charities will find out in October whether they will share the £25,000 prize money and other prizes.

Speaking on behalf of St Petrock’s, Mel Hartley, project manager, said “Obviously we’re delighted to have been shortlisted for such a prestigious award and would love to think that we may win an award.

“If we are successful with the Guardian Charity Award, we will use the prize money towards delivering a new service. We are currently working with Probation Services to develop a community hub service at St Petrock’s which will provide new ways of working with ex-offenders in a community setting and provide a range of opportunities to enable re-integration into the local community.

“Specifically, the Award will be used to train volunteers in a range of skills including Benefits, access to the private rented sector, mental health awareness, drug and alcohol awareness and motivational interviewing skills.

“It would be a wonderful reward to staff, volunteers and trustees in recognition of their often challenging work. It would also demonstrate to a wide audience that a small, local charity can flourish as long as it is prepared to continually review how best to adapt and personalise their services to meet their clients needs. 

“Also most importantly, this Award would validate the incredible support and generosity St Petrock’s receives from the local community of Exeter and surrounding areas.  In fact, the local community provides 25% of our total income and this has remained consistent in spite of the economic climate. Local people have also enabled us to provide crisis services from their generous donations of clothing, sleeping bags and food for over 19 years.   So, if we win this Award, we owe it to them.”

If you would like to know more about St Petrock's click here.