What is Caring at Christmas?

Caring at Christmas is a registered charity that runs the shelter for the homeless in Bristol over the Christmas week. Throughout the year we also work on other projects including the Survival Handbook which is a guide for homeless people in Bristol and the Caring in Bristol website (www.caringinbristol.org) which is for people who work with homeless people.

When was Caring at Christmas established?

We started helping the homeless of Bristol in 1986.

What is your main activity?

As the name suggested our main project is Christmas. There is a lot of preparation that goes into that one week. We need around 300 volunteers for the week we are open. Then there are the services and entertainments such as live music, chiropodists, a hairdresser, physiotherapy and
St Johns Ambulance who come in every evening.

How has your approach changed over the years?

In general things have become a lot more organised. We try to find out as much as possible what food we have coming in so that meals can be planned in advance and any shortfalls can be covered. We have also had to change along with our client group. Now we have a higher percentage of younger males and more women are coming in. Ten years ago the majority of our guests were older men.

What are the challenges faced by homeless charities around Christmas?

As we are only open for one week there is only so much we can do to help the people who stay at the shelter. We would like to be able to offer more specialised services but many people are taking a well deserved break over Christmas.

Do you work in partnerships with any organisations or agencies?

We try to work as much as possible with other agencies, especially throughout the year.
With projects such as the Survival Handbook it is very important to have some input from other agencies.

What are your long term aims?

To continue to meet the changing needs of the homeless in Bristol. Who are your funders? We rely on donations, and could not continue our work without support we receive from people, churches, schools, organisations and businesses.

If you had more funds what would you spend it on?

It would be a very long list, but to start with more survival handbooks and maybe updating them more than once a year. At the moment we are limited due to our resources.

How can people contact you?

By phoning us on:

Tel. 0117 924 4444

Or emailing us at:

caringatchristmas@lineone.net

visit our website:

www.caringinbristol.org

If your group would like to be profiled in a future Voscur newsletter or on our website, please contact the Voscur office email: info@voscur.org

Essential Resource

Survival Handbook

Caring for Christmas have produced this handbook which offers over 50 pages of useful information for homeless people.
If you come into contact with homeless people in your work or organisation, then these booklets are essential.

To get hold of a copy call:

Caring for Christmas
on Tel. 0117 924 4444