We have been blown away by the generous donations received over the festive season. Our Christmas fundraising has reached an incredible £69,000!
Our Christmas appeal, Carols by Candlelight and events organised by friends of Launchpad, which included performances by local choirs and donations from schools, all contributed to this magnificent total.
We will use this money to support people in the Reading area who are homeless, or facing homelessness.
Fiona Keyte, Fundraising manager at Launchpad, said: “The support we have received recently has been incredible and will make an enormous difference. Thank you to everyone who has donated.”
Your continued support is desperately needed – we are seeing lots of people at our drop-in service who would never have thought they would need help with their living situation.
This is down to rising rents and mortgages, the increased cost of living with food prices and utility bills skyrocketing.
According to the Office of National Statistics, private rental prices paid by tenants in England rose by 6.1% in the 12 months to November 2023.
And research from Shelter shows at least 309,000 people in England spent Christmas without a home, including almost 140,000 children. This is a worrying increase of 14% – or 38,100 people in one year.
https://england.shelter.org.uk/media/press_release/at_least_309000_people_homeless_in_england_today
How we are getting you money to work
We are helping many people who have received Section 21 no fault eviction notices out of the blue. This can come as a huge shock and cause a great deal of stress and anxiety. Some tenants don’t know where to start looking for alternative accommodation, and others find themselves shocked at the rental prices. (Abolishing Section 21 is currently paused while the backlog in the court system is addressed).
Our support staff are seeing people who are unemployed or on low wages and unable to make ends meet. Some have added complications such as debt, poor mental health and addiction.
We can offer temporary homes which provide warm, clean and safe accommodation for 104 people for periods of six to 24 months (and we are hoping to have more rooms soon).
During their time with us, each client works through a personalised support plan with a member of Launchpad staff with the ultimate aim of empowering them to move on.
The need for our services is not going away. We continue to experience increasing numbers of people seeking support.
But with help from people like you, we can build on our vision of everyone in Reading having a safe home and the opportunity for a positive future.