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Homeless and Rootless<br />
Well it’s that time of year<br />
again when we start<br />
thinking about the nights<br />
closing in, cooking warm<br />
food, wearing warm clothes<br />
and preparing for Christmas. For some<br />
people these are defi nitely not things<br />
that they will be looking forward to and<br />
they are typically our guests at HARC.<br />
We provide the most<br />
vulnerable men and<br />
women in Sheffi eld<br />
with a warm, safe<br />
place with three<br />
hot meals over the<br />
Christmas period<br />
when other projects<br />
and organisations are<br />
closed.<br />
Here’s what our<br />
guests say:<br />
“I was kicked out<br />
(of the family home) a<br />
few days ago and my<br />
wife moved another<br />
man in. I have been<br />
sleeping rough and<br />
really miss my kids.<br />
I’m fi nding things very,<br />
very diffi cult but have<br />
been trying hard to<br />
hold myself together.<br />
I just need someone<br />
to talk to, a friendly ear and some food,<br />
then I can start working out what my next<br />
steps might be. It’s a terrible time of year<br />
for this to happen.”<br />
HARC started in<br />
1989<br />
Its annual running costs are<br />
£25,000<br />
It is open for<br />
9 days<br />
(December 24 - January 1)<br />
450<br />
meals are served each day<br />
There is a food budget of<br />
£6,000<br />
and there are<br />
over 350<br />
volunteers<br />
“I didn’t really want to get involved<br />
with the activity, but when I did I enjoyed<br />
it. I could have a chat and a cup of tea<br />
and make something at the same time<br />
– it took my mind off things for a while.<br />
I gave the card I made to one of the<br />
volunteers to say thank you.”<br />
And our volunteers:<br />
“I’ve certainly learnt how<br />
to improve my bingo calling!<br />
It’s lovely to chat with guests<br />
who you get to know over<br />
the years, but sad to think<br />
that they are still lonely,<br />
vulnerable or homeless and<br />
that their situation has not improved. This<br />
motivates many of us to do more after<br />
the project has fi nished, by supporting<br />
other organisations in the city throughout<br />
the year, not just at Christmas.”<br />
“There is so much that’s enjoyable<br />
about volunteering with HARC. It’s a very<br />
busy time but really enjoyable. It was<br />
only when I stopped at the end of the<br />
shift that I realised how tired I was, but in<br />
St Chad’s Church, Linden Avenue, Woodseats<br />
Church Offi ce: Linden Avenue, Sheffi eld S8 0GA<br />
Tel: (0114) 274 5086<br />
Page 10<br />
email: offi ce@stchads.org<br />
website: www.stchads.org
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