	Wish Newsletter Vol 5, #1
West London Initiative on Single Homelessness

Summer 2001
Volunteers' Newsletter

Feedback from the Roof		Sunday Breakfast Club
After months of planning, WISH opened its 2000 Roof in Brentford at midday on December 23rd, a hot lunch was ready for the small queue of guests that had already formed at the front gates. Volunteers welcomed them into what would be their home for the next week or so.		Since mid January, clients have come each Sunday to the day centre at Cricklewood Homeless Concern for an inexpensive cooked breakfast comprising, sausage, bacon, egg and beans or tomatoes and porridge with free tea and toast. While there they enjoy reading the newspapers provided or chatting with the volunteers. This service provided by WISH is open from 9 am to 12.30 pm every Sunday.
For seven days over the Christmas period our guests were able to come and go as they pleased throughout the 24hrs. During their stay “guests” accessed doctors, dentists, chiropodists, advice workers, a visiting optician and hairdressers.		Volunteers are organised into 6 teams, who rotate to provide cover for the service. They greet clients at the door, cook and serve the food, tea and coffee, tidy away crockery and generally make people feel welcome.	Each team has a leader assigned to it and these have formed a working group and will take the service forward.
In addition to this there were showers; three hot meals a day; clothing service (including alterations); and hot drinks throughout the day and night.		Being in one location throughout the year means that we are providing some stability to the rough sleepers in that area and this has increased contact with homeless people. Working with other organisations also ensures that services to homeless people in West London complement each other.
We helped over 100 homeless people this year. Approximately three-quarters were men and at least 49% of them had been sleeping rough before coming to the Roof. The age range was from 20 to 73 years, with an average of 40.7 years (median 40)		On-going Activities Planning for the 2001 Roof Fundraising ideas Research on homelessness issues and needs Feasibility study for the All Night Café School Packs Volunteer recruitment Talks to schools, community groups, etc

What you can do
The Christmas Roof requires around 400 volunteers and our Sunday Breakfast service needs six teams of about a dozen people. Your time and enthusiasm is what is important but let us know if you are a: Commercial caterer Carpenter, Plumber, Electrician Doctor, Dentist, Chiropodist, Nurse, First aider, Advice worker Hairdresser, Entertainer Or: have office skills or contact with commercial estate agents that may offer the loan of a building for the Roof.		Fundraising
		Charitable Trusts, often set up by well-off individuals, families or businesses with the aim of supporting charities, are an important source of income for WISH. Using specialist software we locate those Trusts most interested in supporting the kind of work we do but it still takes hours of research and letter writing. We can always do with more help	Getting the tax back For individual donors it’s easier than ever before to enlist the Taxman’s help for WISH’s work. We just need a simple one-off Gift Aid form, which means we can reclaim basic rate on an individual’s donations. This adds 28% to their donations at no cost to themselves! We also ask donors to check with their employers, as many will match funds raised for charity by their employees.
*As well as helping directly at Christmas or on Sundays you might consider getting involved with:*
Volunteer recruitment or liaison Fundraising or PR		Loan of equipment for the Roof Talking to schools, youth or church groups, etc.
Tell us what you are interested in by e.mailing us the "slip" below

Dates for your Diary

Volunteers' Barbecue Saturday August 18th
Now an August tradition, there will be a volunteer's barbecue in Isleworth. We invite your questions and comments on our current or planned services. Bring your ideas or suggestions, whether they are for simple procedural changes or major pieces of work. The management committee will consider them and take on any that are felt appropriate. This is also the opportunity for you to put names to the faces on the management committee. In the hurly burly of the Roof you will have seen all them but may not have established who’s who. The barbecue is accompanied with live entertainment, a chance to see the management committee letting their hair down!
Riverside Ramble Sunday September 16th
This year’s sponsored walk starts at Putney Embankment at 10 am and follows the Thames towpath for 7.5 miles (12 km), ending at a delightful riverside pub in Richmond. Accompanied children are welcome and activity sheets, with things to find out along the way will be given out.		WISH needs your support for this major fundraising event. We must raise £30,000 between now and December if we are to operate the Roof this year. If 150 walkers raise £100 each we will be half way there! Can you help by joining the Ramble and getting friends, family, neighbours and colleagues to sponsor you? Can you help attract ramblers or sponsors by putting up a poster in a prominent place?
Christmas Roof 23rd to 31st December
Volunteers' meeting Wednesday December 12th	Being a volunteer at the Christmas Roof can be rewarding.
The answers from the questionnaire given out to volunteers last year show this when they gave their best moments as: Talking to guests .….& volunteers! Gate duty. Going back into the warm. Sorting out shoes. Gratitude on someone’s face when I gave them a pair of socks. Seeing how much WISH makes a difference to their Christmas.	We wouldn't pretend that it is all enjoyable as the reported worst moments were: Loo cleaning. Gate duty Being freezing (x 4). Cleaning up vomit.	But it seems that these were combined with some laughter as the funniest moments suggest: Cleaning up vomit (hopefully the same as above) Dancing at the gate. Guests’ sense of humour. You should hear some of the jokes I heard……
In general volunteering is good fun! "Great time and very rewarding… would definitely love to do it again."

For further information, email homeless@compuserve.com

To download the original newsletter (Word document) click here

WISH is a registered UK charity, No. 1052924