FreshStart Home Pack Project

For those who have been homeless, they have no belongings. When they move into a flat, they cannot make a cup of tea, light a lamp, shut their curtains or dry themselves after a bath. YOU can help.  The Quays Fresh Start Project is designed to help make the transition from homelessness to temporary accommodation easier. After a period of homelessness, it is common that many have no possessions and often enter our schemes without basic items.  There is no government support to buy these items, so we reply on community donations.  Michelle Bolton, managing director of Quays says:

“Kindness goes a long way to support our service users.  Providing them with a pack of items when they arrive is practical, but it is also an act of kindness that shows them that someone cares.  Often people have experienced real hardship before reaching us and that kindness can help them to find the strength to turn their life around and shouldn’t be dismissed – Kindness is a pathway to eradicating homelessness.”

What’s in a home starter pack?

Our Home FreshStart Packs are essential in helping to ensure a good start, or restart, after some time without a permanent home. By providing packs of essential household goods to those moving into a new tenancy, we can turn a house into a home, and help people keep their tenancy going. This in turn helps reduce the likelihood of future homelessness.  There are big ticket items and smaller ones that can make a big difference to a vulnerable person with nothing.

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You can take items to our drop off points in Manchester, Bradford & Brighton – learn more.

You can donate items making a purchase from our amazon list: https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/124JGU2KOSD9I

You can donate to out just giving page:
https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/quayshousing-assocation

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Who is eligible?

Our aim is to supply every new tenant entering our schemes a FreshStart Home Pack however as we do not receive finding this is not always possible. That’s why fundraising

and donations (live link to donations) are so important to us as a community

benefit organisation.

How your support helps people to turn their life around

Meet Darren has been living in our scheme for 1 year,

“My name is Darren and I completed a charity walk on behalf of Quays Housing who are currently supporting me with moving into my own accommodation. I have had my own challenges, that have resulted in me rough sleeping and using substances as a coping mechanism. I am out of my addiction and being supported to re-build my life with the help of Quays Housing. I have been encouraged by staff to make artwork to occupy my time and this has been displayed throughout the scheme. The staff have supported me on my good days and bad and I would like to raise money to help others in my position within Quays Housing.”

Darren’s charity walk raised a whopping £900 to provide Freshstart Home packs filled with essential items.  He did the walk, along the canal from Shipley to Bingley, on behalf of Quays Housing.  Tenants are referred Quays from the council and have often experienced homelessness through most of their lives.

Michelle Bolton, Managing Director of Quays Housing, said:

“People often arrive with nothing, many are entrenched rough sleepers or have few belongings and Quays Housing aims to support them to become tenants and rebuild their lives. Darren is one of those people the organisation has helped and is now rebuilding his life and we are very proud of everything he has achieved.”

If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this blog piece, please contact the Quays team who may be able to signpost you to support in your area, info@quayshousing.co.uk

You can donate items making a purchase from our amazon list: https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/124JGU2KOSD9I

You can donate to out just giving page:
https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/quayshousing-assocation