WNHT Autumn Newsletter

AWARDS WITH MEANING! Sheila Meaning, co-founder of Watford New Hope Trust (WNHT), has recently received not just one award but two! The national Lesley Pearse Women of Courage Award was awarded to Sheila in May, and in August she was presented with the Audentior Award from Watford Borough Council in recognition and celebration of over 25 years’ voluntary work with homeless people in the town.

Photo credit - Simon Jacobs

Sheila Meaning and Cllr Alan Burtenshaw. Photo Credit - Simon Jacobs

Mike Smith, CEO of WNHT, said: “Sheila is an inspiration to us all, and these awards recognise her dedication, selflessness and hard work over so many years.”

Sheila was nominated for the Women of Courage Award by a service user at the Haven Day Centre, and was given a specially crafted commemorative award, a framed certificate and £200 worth of Penguin books. Sheila said: “I’m so pleased to receive the Penguin vouchers as it means we can buy some books to encourage and develop the men and women who use the Day Centre.”

STAFF PROFILE

SUMMER SLEEPOUT

GRAHAM’S STORY

Pip Leese, HR & Admin Director, retires after 13 years of service.

50 young people slept out under the stars in aid of WNHT.

Graham shares his story and tells us how his life has turned around.

HR Director has been very important in this development.

In Pip’s own words, “The Trust has been the first place I’ve worked where I’ve felt I’ve had a work family; the staff have been more than colleagues to me. I’ve also enjoyed the variety in the role and found it to be an incredibly worthwhile place to work”.

STAFF PROFILE Pip Leese After working with Watford New Hope Trust for an impressive 13 years, our Human Resources (HR) Director, Pip Leese, is set to retire this autumn.

Reflecting on her years with WNHT Pip recalls how, in August 1998, there were only 20 employees and no email!

Furthermore, WNHT’s services were much more limited back then. A night shelter only operated during the winter months and there was just a day centre, two hostels and a charity shop. Since 1998, WNHT has grown substantially – to 15 services, 62 members of staff and over 100 volunteers – and, being responsible for the recruitment, management and wellbeing of all of these people, the role of

The WNHT Central Support Team faces different challenges from those working directly with service users. When speaking about the things she will not miss about her job, Pip says that dealing with redundancies is something which has been hardest for her. Such difficult decisions have been necessary in recent years as a consequence of on-going financial pressures, but they have not been easy in the slightest.

Pip is now looking forward to retirement and spending time with her husband, Richard, the wider family and the dog, as well as being busy in the garden and new greenhouse. She says, “It all comes back to the people. I’ve had phenomenal support throughout some tough times; I wouldn’t be going if I hadn’t already passed the retirement age”.

Pip, from all of us at WNHT, we thank you for your years of tremendous service. You will be missed.

HORNET’S ON THE ROPES! What do Spiderman, Harry the Hornet, the Bishop of Hertford and 59 other intrepid individuals have in common? They all successfully completed the WNHT Abseil Challenge on 9th July!

Sheila Meaning descended the 85-foot-high tower dressed as Spiderman to great delight from the watching crowd. Participants varied in age and experience; some enjoyed the vertical walk down the 15th century flint wall whilst others remained terrified the whole way down!

One of the residents of the Sanctuary Night Shelter took part and said: “I did the Abseil Challenge to raise money and awareness for the Trust, especially as I am part of it! I think it is important for those who have been helped by WNHT to also play their part in raising much needed money for the homeless. Those of us who are not on the street anymore should not forget those who are still there.”

Thanks to you if you took part, helped on the day or sponsored one of your friends.

Almost £6,000 has been raised for the work of WNHT!

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WNHT is now registered with Recycle4Charity.co.uk who will give us money for old mobile phones, inkjet cartridges and laser/toner cartridges. If and when you have any of these items, we’d be really grateful if you could drop them off at the Fundraising Team office (above the Queens Road Charity Shop).

Our new website is now fully functioning with all internet browsers and is full of information about WNHT. For the most up-to-date news of our work, do pay our site a visit. Also, you can follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

CHORLEYWOOD OPEN FOR BUSINESS! WNHT has been presented with a very exciting opportunity to open a charity shop in Chorleywood. The contracts are pending, but it’s looking very likely that we will be opening a new shop in the Main Parade this autumn.

The people and churches of Chorleywood have always played a vital role in the life of WNHT. The late Janet Hosier, one of our founders, worshipped at and was strongly supported by St Andrew’s Chorleywood as she set out on the journey of starting Watford New Hope Trust over 21 years ago. Churches, community groups, individuals and schools in Chorleywood continue to be

A POEM

among the most committed supporters of our work.

In order to get the shop up and running, there is still a lot to be done and we really need help! For example, we’re looking for shop volunteers and people who can drive our transit van to collect and deliver donations. Also, we’re in need of donations to sell in the shop. If you have anything which we could sell, do let us know. Please contact Mike Hewitt on 01923 210 680 or mhewitt@wnht.org.

Do keep an eye on our website for details of the grand opening!

In light of our new shop opening, here’s an apt poem written by local poet and supporter of WNHT, Ginnie Cates.

Charity bargains at home

Same ones keep on coming back

Helping out in local high street Volunteer for charity Serving on the till or backroom Quite a ragbag you can see.

Sewing kits and knitting patterns Balls of wool and potties too Punters who delight to needle Haggle, want to use the loo!

Goods donated by the sackful Everything from tat to new Bearing quite a marked resemblance To the bargain hunters too!

Works of Shakespeare, novels, comics Candles, keys and washing linesa People who will take the mickey Out of prices, opening times.

Rolex, Timex, clocks and watches Metronomes in brown and black Shoppers regular as clockwork

© Ginnie Cates An extract from ‘A Pan of Poems: The Gold Prospector’, available at amazon.co.uk.

GRAHAM’S STORY Five years ago I had a job and a flat, but everything went wrong. I became severely depressed and life became incredibly difficult. One morning I couldn’t get up for work and I felt so suicidal. So I went to hospital and was assessed. I was admitted to the Psychiatric Unit and, from that point onwards, I was admitted on several occasions, which lead to me losing my flat and becoming homeless. I began to drink heavily to help me cope, but things got worse.

I reached rock bottom and felt like ending it all. Then I was introduced to the Sanctuary Night Shelter. After

moving in I became very ill with pancreatitis. The doctors said it was caused by excessive drinking and I was advised to stop. When I got out of hospital I was supported by WNHT staff and counsellors, along with outside agencies.

I accepted all the help I could get, and this was the start of my sobriety.

I’ve spent the last 17 months at the Sanctuary Night Shelter and Cluster Flats and have worked through many problems. I’ve been involved with WNHT workshops and done voluntary work. I’ve just moved into my own flat and feel so happy and content. I can’t thank the Trust enough.

RAISE MONEY AS YOU SLEEP!

On Friday 1 July, WNHT held its first summer sleepout, specifically for young people. Thirty-one teenagers slept rough in the grounds of Watford Grammar School for Boys. Sponsored

by The Entertainer toy shop, the sleepout aimed to raise awareness and money for WNHT’s work with homeless and vulnerable people in the town.

Richard Harrington MP welcomed the young people and commended their involvement with WNHT. The young people heard a first-hand account from one of the Trust’s service users of what it is like to be homeless in Watford, and how the charity had helped him off the streets. Rob said: “I appreciated being invited to the Summer Sleepout to give the young people an insight into homelessness.

I shared my experiences of what life was like when I was their age, and

hopefully gave them an idea of what to do if they ever have similar problems. I encouraged them to talk to a trusted adult rather than turn to alcohol or drugs.

It was good to explain my experiences sleeping rough. The young people were doing it just for one night, but I wanted to share my story so that they never have to do it for real.”

The teenagers spent the night in cardboard shelters which they had made themselves as part of a DIY Shelter Competition. Rob awarded first prize to a group of sixth formers from Watford Grammar School for Boys, whose shelter was based on the shape of a wheel.

As well as learning about sleeping rough and raising awareness of homelessness, the young people raised over £1500 for WNHT’s work.

Bethany, aged 13, said: “It was a great experience and it felt really good in the morning to wake up knowing that we had made a difference.”

S W E N TES BI iew 2011

Annual Rev

Our annual review for the year ending 31st March 2011 is now available on our website (in electronic format) and from our Central Support Team. This 40-page booklet gives an account of our achievements during the past year. Do get in touch if you would like us to send you a copy.

You can now donate by text message and100% of your donation will come to us - there are no network charges to you, or us!

To make a one-off donation of £5 via text message, simply text

WNHT21 £5 to 70070 * * You can change the amount to £1, £2, £3, £4 or £10 as well (strangely, you can’t donate £6-£9)

The average life expectancy for a person living on the streets is just 42 years old, which is almost half the national average life expectancy, which is 80 years old. Fortunately, we don’t see many people sleeping on Watford’s streets these days (although, numbers are growing due to recent and imminent changes in legislation). However, without WNHT at least 50 people would have nowhere else to sleep. Thank you for your support; please keep supporting us if you can.

S NEW ES BIT

Harvest – September to November 2011 It’s Harvest time again! Last year, over £40k worth of food, stamps and toiletries were donated to WNHT by local churches, companies, schools and synagogues. These donations keep our running costs to a minimum. If you would like to help us in this way, or if you would like someone from WNHT to come and speak to your community group, do let us know.

Winter Sleepout, St Albans Abbey

The amount that WNHT is able to claim through Gift Aid has reduced slightly since April 2011 from 28p to 25p for every £1 donated to us. However, this is still an extremely valuable income source for us and we encourage all tax payers to consider ‘gift aiding’ any donations to us. As an example, a £10 donation with GiftAid will be worth £12.50 to WNHT, with no extra cost to the donor.

Friday 2nd December 2011, 9pm to 7am

Winter Sleepout, Charter Place, Watford Friday 20th January 2011, 9pm to 7am

WNHT Birthday event Friday 23rd March 2012. Details will be announced in the coming months.

If you shop using a credit card, you could be helping WNHT with every transaction you make. Virgin Money is offering a unique charity credit card, whereby 1% of everything you spend is given as cash back to WNHT. For more details, search online for ‘Virgin Charity Credit Card’.

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Watford New Hope Trust, Trust Office, 67 Queens Road, Watford, Herts, WD17 2QN Telephone

01923 210 680

Email

info@wnht.org

Web

www.wnht.org

Watford New Hope Trust is a registered charity no. 1080784 and a company limited by guarantee no. 03969063