Annual Report: 1996
West London Initiative on Single Homelessness

FUNDRAISING AND AWARENESS

Tasks for the group include the development of corporate sponsorship and individual donations, the procurement of goods and services and the establishment of links with local schools, churches, youth groups and the media.
 

RIVERSIDE RAMBLE

On a wet and windy Sunday morning in late September, 31 volunteers set out from Putney Bridge for fundraising walk along the Thames towpath.   Ahead of them the delights of  Barn Elms, Richmond, Teddington, Kingston and, finally, the splendours of Wolsey’s Hampton Court Palace.

Every three miles or so, there were checkpoints where the damp walkers were greeted by cheerful, if slightly chilly, marshals.  The checkpoints provided the opportunity for rest, refreshment and, where necessary, treatment of blisters.

Despite the weather, most participants walked the full 15 miles to Hampton Court.  They arrived in high spirits, having raised £1300 towards the cost of Christmas provision for West London’s street homeless population.

We look forward to better weather for the walk in 1997.
 
 

PUBLICATIONS

Letter:  “Tuberculosis Among Homeless People at a Temporary Shelter in London”  by Drs Maggie Harding and Nikki Brown was published in The Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health  Vol15, No 2, April 1997
 
 

OTHER ACTIVITIES

In order to maintain contact with existing volunteers throughout the year,  a quarterly newsletter was produced and circulated.

In the summer WISH held a training weekend for volunteers, including a social event on the Saturday evening.