Charity vows to be there for homeless in winter months
GLASGOW City Mission is at the heart of efforts to help people who are homeless over winter. The charity is operating the Overnight Welcome Centre, where people who are at risk of sleeping rough get a roof over their heads.
Previously the service, for many years, was the Winter Night Shelter, which put people up on mattresses on the floor in a hall near the barras, where up to 40 people could be sheltered.
Last year it was in a small hotel outside the city centre and this year it has changed again, using hotels as emergency accommodation.
The City Mission said it is a progression from previous years.
Jack Geddes, right, marketing and fundraising manager, said for months the City Mission has been in talks with the council and other partners to work out what will work best for the people who need the service.
He said: “We can make more choices this way.
“If people come to the mission after 5pm they can have dinner here with us.
“The busiest so far this winter has been 18 people in one night. We got positive outcomes for each of them.
“There are a number of options open to us.
“Everyone who wants accommodation will get accommodated.
“We use hotels and B& Bs as emergency accommodation.
“Glasgow City Mission has four housing settlement officers who pick up the people in the morning to move them out of the emergency bed and into somewhere else, which frees it up for someone else.”
As well as the emergency work, the faith- based charity has a number of Christmas events.
Mr Geddes said: “We have our Christmas dinner for between 150 to 200 people and we are having a trip to Edinburgh for the Christmas market for 12 people.”
The operation continues over the festive period for those who need help.
The Crimea Street centre will be open through Christmas and New Year.
The City Mission also deals with many of the underlying causes of homelessness, like addiction.
Mr Geddes said: “We are putting people into Christian rehab centres in England. We are aware of rehab places throughout the country.
“We also have our Christmas appeal to support the work we do.”
This year the City Mission appeal tells the story of Barry, far right, who came to the City Mission for help and is now part of the team working on its Rehab Pathways project.
Barry was in the depths of drug addiction, slept at the overnight shelter for two years in a row and went to the Mission for food.
The Rehab Pathways team got him a place in residential rehab.
He completed the rehab successfully then began studying and returned to the City Mission as an intern on the same project that helped on the road to recovery. Barry said: “All the suffering I went through has been healed. None of it was wasted. God is using all my negative experiences; they were worth it because my past experiences equip me for the job I do now.”
The charity also has a tie- in with Clyde College and City of Glasgow College. And in one example it was able to get someone into a job within two days. Providing help to get people further along the road from homelessness and addiction is a core ambition. Mr Geddes added: “Education and employment is where we can really free people.”
Education and employment is where we can really free people