Last year research showed that 309,000 people were going to be sleeping on the streets during Christmas, and with homeless numbers rising since then, it’s hard to imagine what that number may be this year. Being homeless can damage your sense of self on any day, but finding yourself without a safe and stable place during the winter, with no home to welcome you during Christmas, can have a major impact on someone's mental health. 45% of people experiencing homelessness have mental health problems, and when someone is sleeping rough on the streets this rises to 80%.
At The Bridge we want to make Christmas a warm and relaxed time for anyone who walks through our doors, so that no matter what they’re going through, they can take a break for a moment, and enjoy the festivities. It has always been important to us that our community cafe is a safe space for our guests, where their worries can be put on pause for a little while. Thanks to our case workers, our guests also have someone they can turn to, whether to get help with housing, a medical issue, benefit applications, or just to talk and get advice. All of this will of course still be available, but we also want to mark the season with some Christmas activities, open to all guests that wish to join.
‘I’m not really looking forward to Christmas as I will be on my own more than likely.’ - A guest.
So what exactly do we have planned? Thanks to our amazing cook, Jen, we’ll be putting on a Christmas buffet for all our guests, complete with all the trimmings, desserts and Christmas crackers! The Christms meal will be free and available to all. We’ve also been working hard to put together 90 Christmas hampers for our guests, which will include some winter necessities like a warm hat, scarf, gloves, and socks, hand warmers, and food vouchers, but we also to include a few treats too, such as Christmas puddings, selections boxes, and thermal flasks so that our guests can take a hot drink from the kitchen out with them. All of this will be delivered in a brand new rucksack to our guests after their Christmas meal.
‘I’m not sure where I’ll be this Christmas, but hopefully with friends and family, not in my hotel room.’ - A guest
We’ll also have a variety of activities being put on throughout the month leading up to our buffet, such as Christmas movie days, karaoke, Christmas card making, gingerbread decorating, and quizzes and games. All this will be kickstarted on Tuesday the 3rd of December when we decorate The Bridge, including putting up our Christmas tree with decorations crafted and painted by staff and guests.
While this may not in any way solve the bigger issues in someone's life that has led to them experiencing homelessness, we hope it can brighten the mood, even for a little while.
If you want to know how you can help someone feel cared for and less alone while sleeping on the streets this Christmas, there are a lot of small gestures that can make a big impact. Simply talking to someone and offering a friendly conversation can go a long way, especially when creating a positive impact on someone's mental health. Offering to buy someone a hot drink is also a kind gesture that not only makes a person feel cared for, but helps to fight the cold during these winter months.
If you want to help in a way that makes a bigger impact, we currently have our Christmas fundraiser live, with all funds going towards the buffet, hampers, activities, and supporting our work into the new year. You can find the link to it here.
And if you would like to become a regular donor and support The Bridge past Christmas, you can find the link to do so here.
Follow us on socials to keep up with us this festive season, and as always, thank you for reading.
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