Monthly News Round Up from homeless charity CENS
Hey, welcome to our first monthly news roundup blog.
Garden Joy
May has been a rather joyful month at the shelter, with lots going on as we go into the warmer weather. The garden has been looking exceptionally lovely this year; dedicated volunteer Karen has been busy for a number of months planting lots of colourful things, and they are now blossoming well. She comes in regularly to keep it looking tidy. It’s a great benefit to the residents as a calm space to just take a few deep breaths and reflect. One of the residents kindly sourced us a garden bench as well, and we are on the lookout for some more chairs.
Speaking of lovely donations, our artist-residence currently living in the move-on house has the use of a new desk courtesy of a very kind donation that came in less than 24 hours after we did a shout-out! He is really pleased with it.
Kitchen Delights
In news from the kitchen, residents have enjoyed some delicious food. At the beginning of the month, residents took part in a coronation afternoon tea, with scones and jam, strawberries and lots of sandwiches! Residents have got involved with the cooking too, with one making a wonderful banoffee pie to share with everyone.
We have also just welcomed our new Kitchen Manager Emma to the role. Emma is going to be planning all the menus, making the best use of all the lovely ingredients from our partners at Fareshare to provide residents with nutritious and healthy food.
Emma’s already got stuck in and made a start on our garage/food store, giving it a rather overdue spring clean! Storage at the shelter is always an issue, and it’s great to see the store looking organised. We have to be pretty strategic about what we keep onsite, that’s why our donations list is quite specific. Incidentally if you can donate us some new single bedding, we would be particularly grateful!
Prioritising Mental Health
Mental health is the number one issue that residents disclose. Whilst homelessness can be traumatic in itself, most residents have a pre-existing condition before they come in. That’s why we have been really fortunate to receive not one, but two different grant which allows us to pay for professional counselling for residents who we think will benefit from it. Many residents come in with such a difficult life story to tell and it can make all the difference to unpick their experiences in a safe and understanding environment.
That’s it for May. Look out for our next update in June, giving details of our Open Day and an Open AGM!
