Mission campaign now hits £16,000

A CAMPAIGN to help Huddersfield’s homeless and needy has gathered pace with one company alone donating £5,000.

The Mission needs £50,000 to provide essential services this winter and launched a campaign to raise the total at the start of December.

Now it can be revealed the tally so far has just topped £16,000.

Of this £9,186 has come from businesses, with the rest from individual donations.

Huddersfield Mission manager Paul Bridges said the biggest donation by far has been from a company which wishes to remain anonymous.

Another major donor is Armitage Bridge-based One 17 Architects & Interior Designers which has given £1,000.

Caroline Lee, head of community liaison at One 17, said: “The Welcome Centre is more than just a food bank. In addition to food and essential household items, the centre also provides friendly, non-judgemental advice and guidance, helping those who have hit hard times back onto their feet again.

“Since we first became involved with the centre in 2010, making a donation to support the purchase of gifts and fresh food has always been on our Christmas shopping list and we have enjoyed many a trolley dash to purchase items in bulk.

“Unfortunately, however, the need for the services of the Welcome Centre has grown significantly in recent times. More local families are finding themselves in crisis and unable to make ends meet and this is a year-round problem, not just at Christmas. So by giving a donation this year we hope it will allow the flexibility for the centre to use the funds in the most effective way to support those in need throughout the year.”

Another sizeable donation of £600 has come from consultancy Indentity Experts who are based in the Media Centre in Huddersfield town centre.

Staff at Cummins Turbo Technologies raised £594 with a Christmas jumper day and that will now be matched pound for pound by the company.

Students on the New Horizons course at Kirklees College raffled hampers to bring in £113 while Honley High raised £50.

Paul said: “We are delighted with the way the appeal has gone so far, especially with the number of people who have contacted us to say they have done fundraising on our behalf. Our Facebook and Twitter profiles have seen a massive increase in followers.”

Huddersfield Mission provides meals along with counselling and support but it all comes at a cost.

The Mission’s low-cost cafe serves more than 10,000 meals a year and the evening café provides well over 3,000 free meals from November to March.

The cafe operates as a safe place for some of the most vulnerable people in society; people who are vulnerable, homeless and isolated.

The Mission’s campaign is supported by the Examiner along with Cummins.

Businesses across Kirklees can help by donating the equivalent in cash of a particular item from its gift list.

Company Gift List: how much it costs to run each aspect of the Mission’s services:

£18 - one client having one hour of advice, a meal and activity group. £38 - one activity session for 10 people £47 - one adviser for a day £108 - the cost of running the evening café each night

£111 - a course of counselling (eight sessions)

£141 - the cost of providing advice for one day

£145 - a month of telephone calls for the advice service

£250 - the cost of the Christmas day meal £540 - evening café for one week £707 - advice for one whole week £958 - a month of activity session (25) £1,805 - specialist counselling service for six months

£4,056 - cost of all support services each week

Cash can be donated at Huddersfield Mission on Lord Street from 9am-7pm. Cheques made payable to Huddersfield Mission. Please hand in at the Mission or post to Huddersfield Mission 3-13 Lord Street, Huddersfield. HD1 1QA.

Text Donate - It is possible for people to donate £1, £2, £3, £4, £5 or £10 via the text donate. As an example, to donate £5, text the following to 70070: Book05 £5