It goes without saying a charity relies on just that – the charity and kindness of others who can donate or volunteer to help towards providing a service to those who are poor, suffering and most in need.
Colchester Engagement & Next Steps (CENS), is a registered charity whose doors have been open to the homeless community in Colchester and Essex since 1984!
For 40 years we have been providing emergency shelter, food and support to people who have found themselves in desperate situations, with nowhere left to turn.
Everyone involved with CENS is passionate about helping the homeless, and believes that having a home is a basic human right. We rely on your generous donations for many things that are essential to running a homeless shelter such as:
- Home-cooked meals for all residents every evening, including a roast dinner every Sunday. Our amazing kitchen co-ordinator Emma creates a new tasty menu every week!
- Support from the housing staff to help with finding a new home.
- In-depth support interviews to capture full needs of the resident, including any referrals to outside agencies such as drug and alcohol services and mental health support.
- Costs of running the shelter, such as the use of hot showers in every resident’s room and access to all the washing machines and tumble dryers.
- Counselling Services.
- Accompanying residents to interviews and meetings.
- Activities, courses and life skills training.
- Heating bills.
- Daily essential personal items, such as shampoo, body wash, toothpaste, deodorant and sun cream.
YOUR DONATIONS MEAN SO MUCH TO OUR RESIDENTS
Thank you to everyone who has donated to CENS this year. We are a small charity, so you can rest assured that 100% of your donation will go directly towards helping a local homeless person move away from the streets and into safety and security. You make a BIG difference! With the current cost of living crisis, our services are in huge demand, and we are struggling with rising food and heating bills. Every donation will help us, so please give what you can.
HOW TO CONTRIBUTE AND MAKE A ONE-OFF OR MONTHLY DONATION TO CENS TO HELP MAKE A DIFFERENCE TO OUR RESIDENTS’ LIVES
One-off Donation Examples
£100 could fund essentials and support for a resident for a 4 week stay.
£50 can cover the cost of laundry for all residents for a week£25 will pay for an in-depth housing support interview
Monthly Donation Examples
£2 per month covers meals for a resident for a day
£10 per month covers the cost of showers for a resident for a month
£15 per month covers one hour of one-to-one support a resident£30 per month covers breakfast and dinner for one resident for a month
Make it Monthly
Alongside a standard method of single one-off donations, we’re also able to accept recurring monthly donations, if you’d like to help us financially on a more regular basis. This is very easy to do, simply visit https://cens4homeless.org.uk/donate-new/ and choose from one of the amounts below, or enter an amount you’re comfortable with, tick the ‘Make this donation monthly’ box and we’ll take care of the rest. Simple!
Why Monthly Matters
When you choose to donate on a recurring monthly basis, this helps us to forward plan. If we know how much income we have coming in every month, the shelter can be budgeted effectively. Monthly donations also help to reduce the effect of seasonal donation lows, along with helping to lower the administration costs and providing a more sustained long-term impact. This allows us to improve the services on offer.
FOLLOW CENS ON OUR SOCIALS TO SEE WHAT A DIFFERENCE YOUR DONATION MAKES
