Kingston Churches Action on

Homelessness

bringing hope and support to the homeless

latest news >>

Donation Thank Yous: We continue to be well supported by the local Churches and by private donations. Without this support, KCAH would not be able to function. So a BIG THANK YOU! We do appreciate any support we receive, be it through giving - of time or financially - and we are always looking for donations of non-perishable food to distribute to the street homeless and to our tenants. Cleaning materials are always most welcome too so that we can sometimes give our tenants a helping hand in our bid to keep the houses in our Access Project looking spotless!

Posted on {25 July 2007}

Volunteers: We have a strong volunteer fieldworker team in place - many thanks to Liz Winyard, Linda Davies, Duncan Lawson, Isobel Johns and Nathalie Gould. The work that our volunteers do with some of our tenants really can make a difference to their lives.

If you are interested in finding out more of the role of a fieldworker, please contact Vicky Hudson or Matt Hatton on 020 8255 8801.

Posted on {25 July 2007}

Board Members: KCAH has been fortunate to be led by a strong Chair, Alan Brown, who has had the daunting task of guiding the Charity through a period of transition when Bob Bailey retired as Operational Director and Matt Hatton succeeded him in June. Alan is due to stand down himself at our next AGM in November 2007. Consequently we are looking to find a new Chair, ideally someone who has an awareness of the voluntary sector and who can be a representative of the local Churches who founded KCAH.font>

Posted on {25 July 2007}

A Change in KCAH personnel: Matt Hatton has replaced Bob Bailey as Operational Director. Bob retired at the end of May, having worked for the Charity for the past nine years. Matt Hatton is aiming to head a dynamic, new team who have the vision and energy to take KCAH forward in the bid to tackle homelessness. Patricia Nabatanzi continues to manage the Housing Advice Section while Vicky Hudson now heads the Access Project. A new Housing and Welfare Benefits Advisor will soon be joining our team and we are still looking for a suitable candidate to work with Vicky on the Access Project.

Posted on {25 July 2007}

Annual General Meeting: We are planning to hold our next AGM in early November. A venue and guest speaker is yet to be confirmed.

Posted on {25 July 2007}

Funding: Last October, Matt Hatton raised over £1,500 for KCAH by running the Loch Ness Marathon in 3 hours and 7 minutes. We also raised money through having an Indian Supper evening and several Karaoke events. More recently, Vikki and Linda Davies also raised money for KCAH by running a stall promoting the work of the Charity at a local fair.

Our funding is always an issue - as with any Charity. Recently, one of our main funders, Housing Justice, announced funding cuts to all the housing advice services they support, including KCAH, by 50%. Consequently, KCAH has to find new funders or benefactors in order to maintain the work we do and maintain our staff numbers. It does also make us constantly assess the services that we offer and whether we must diversify in order to attract funding elsewhere.

KCAH is also particularly indebted to Kingston Council for continuing to financially support the services we offer. In April 2007, a large sum of money from the Council helped KCAH to still maintain two staff members on the Housing Advice Section for this current financial year.>

Posted on {25 July 2007}

Hostels: The Kingston YMCA has continued to work in good partnership with us and we normally refer clients to them on a weekly basis. Sometimes, if the client proves themselves in the Y, they are referred back to us so we can place them in the Access Project.

We also have strong links with other hostels and nightshelters such as Crawley, Woking and Leatherhead.

Posted on {25 July 2007}