Representatives from Swain & Co Solicitors in Havant are arranging a sponsored sleep out on 18th January 2013 to raise money for Two Saints.
Homelessness is an issue which the firm’s Housing Department are increasingly concerned about and deal with on a daily basis. With the economy in decline it is also an issue which has become more prevalent in the community.
Katie White, Kelly Evans, Yas Patel, Melanie Kingsley, Shane Galvin, Tina Smith, Maureen Treagust and Lynda Mills will be sleeping outside The Foyer in Portsmouth on 18th January 2013. They will be experiencing something of what it is like to be street homeless in Portsmouth.
A sponsorship page has been set up so that people can sponsor their efforts
Katie White a Housing and Community Care Solicitor at Swain & Co comments, “We wanted to arrange the sleep out in winter to challenge ourselves and also to show support for the street homeless for whom winter is the worst time”.
Two Saints work with people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness, providing high quality housing, support and learning services. They work with single adults aged 16 – 65 across a variety of services including hostels, managed housing, support in the community, emergency accommodation, access to healthcare, repatriation and specialist support and learning services.
Katie goes on to explain why the team have chosen to support Two Saints, “They do a lot of work in the community for the homeless and a number of our clients obtain supported accommodation through them so we have personal experience of the work they do.”
Swain & Co can assist in making homelessness applications and making representations to the Local Authority when the Local Authority do not accept a duty. We can also assist in respect of more general housing issues.
You can make an appointment in advance or alternatively attend our drop in service from Monday-Friday from 9am until 12 noon.
Anybody can come along with a housing issue and will be seen by a housing specialist. Alternatively we offer appointments at Portsmouth Citizen’s Advice Bureau every Friday. You can contact us on 02392 483322 to make an appointment. We attend Gosport Voluntary Action group on a Monday afternoon from 1pm-4pm. We offer appointments and drop ins for this service.
Two Saints assist some of the most disadvantaged people in our communities. People who are homeless are almost exclusively unemployed and their lives are limited by multiple aggravating factors including alcohol and substance misuse, mental health issues and relationship breakdown.
A high proportion of the people Two Saints work with have a history which features offending behaviour, abusive relationships, are affected by extreme poverty, often in and out of work, suffer from poor health and have little or no access to any form of support network. The work Two Saint’s does shows that with high quality support, it is possible to turn lives around, benefiting the individual and their community.
Two Saints have core services in Portsmouth, Southsea and Havant including:
• A 47 room hostel in Portsmouth offering varying levels of support.
• A further 105 rooms in resettlement accommodation in Portsmouth.
• 14 rooms for specialist Mental Health services in Portsmouth.
• 25 rooms offering varying levels of support for resettlement and substance misuse services.
• 49 rooms in resettlement accommodation in Southsea.
• 5 room resettlement service in Havant
• 7 resettlement flats in Havant.
During the course of a year, Two Saints will provide a home for 287 people in Portsmouth, Southsea and Havant
The assistance provided by Two Saints is crucially important and Swain & Co hope to raise money to enable them to continue their good work.
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