Advent & Christmas with Cooksmill Green

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Reflections & Services

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Music from People of the Green

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Christmas with the Scarecrows

Join us at Cooksmill Green for a little festive relief and celebrate the true joy of Christ’s coming at Christmas

"Sanctus"

Our Christmas Appeal Charity for 2021

Sanctus is a charity which was established in the bitter winter of 2011.  Sanctus feeds the growing number of homeless, hungry and vulnerable individuals in the city of Chelmsford. They run a free café offering breakfast, hot and cold drinks, snacks and a cooked homemade lunch.  They are also able to help by offering 1:1 support and counselling, group sessions, training courses and a range of enrichment activities including a Book Club, Music Club and an Allotment Project.

On any day they can have approaching 100 service users visiting either the café or the hub and this number continues to grow. This is a mixture of occasional and regular service users so their reach and usage is extensive.

SANCTUS
30-32 BROOMFIELD ROAD
CHELMSFORD, ESSEX
CM1 1SW

info@sanctus-home.com
01245 257985

Donate to our Christmas Appeal through our Just Giving page HERE 

Find out more about Sanctus by visting their website HERE

Examples of what Sanctus provides:

  • Free food and drink for the homeless, and those unable to provide for themselves
  • A warm and friendly community space for those who have nowhere else to go
  • Advice and advocacy when service users feel there is nowhere or no one else to turn to
  • Enrichment activities (book club, music club, and community allotment project)
  • Signposting and links with local organisations for a range of issues
  • Encouragement for training and/or employment when service users are ready

Sanctus in-house services include but are not limited to:

  • 1:1 mentoring
  • Peer mentoring
  • Addiction support Groups (including STARS with Suzanne)
  • Helping Hands Essex drop in sessions
  • Counselling, Hypnotherapy and Reiki through consultation with our qualified in-house professional
  • The National Careers Service
  • Peabody (guidance and support for independent living)
  • Housing Dilemmas – eviction, benefits and housing support
  • Financial advice and support with debt plans
  • Courses, qualifications and training opportunities relevant to our client base
  • Benefits applications, appeals support and advocacy at hearings
  • Sourcing a GP and attending medical and mental health appointments when required
  • Supported Housing provision with Notting Hill Genesis
  • Tenancy sustainment support programme
  • Open Road Drug Recovery drop in
  • Rap and Creative writing group
  • Relaxation and Meditation
  • Liaison with the Probation Service, Job Centre and other outside agencies to create a good working partnership and a joined-up approach to working with joint clients successfully
  • Chelmsford City Council Housing Navigator.  (new role) Drop in sessions and 1:1 support

Sanctus is incredibly grateful to have been chosen as the charity for the Cooksmill Green Church Christmas Appeal. Your kind donations mean a lot to us and will help many people, especially during this difficult time. Sanctus has remained open throughout this year and we currently support between 200-250 people This donation will go directly towards supporting our front line services which include some of the following activities:

The café and kitchen service which offers a hot meal, snacks, hot and cold drinks, and a food bank. This service is currently run as a takeaway service 7 days every week. Over the Christmas period, this will also help with Christmas meals for our service users.

  • Basic essentials such as, tents, sleeping bags, sleeping pods, toiletries, rucksacks, and clothes.
  • 1:1 person-centred support including, a tenancy sustainment programme, support with independent living, housing and benefits applications, addiction support, counselling, advice and advocacy services.
  • Items to furnish accommodation for someone who is re-housed from being on the streets.
  • Support with returning to work such as, training and development, CV writing sessions, looking for work and applying for jobs.

Our motto is Love All Serve All, which means we will always support anyone in need. Our service users predominantly consist of, rough sleepers, sofa surfers, those at risk of or recovering from homelessness, mental health suffers, those in recovery, ex-offenders, the elderly who cannot afford heating and food, veterans from across the service, those with disabilities which prevent them from finding work and anyone in the community needing food and companionship.

Sanctus is a small charity and without the support and generosity of people such as yourselves, we would not be able to offer all that we do to those in need. We are truly grateful for your donations.