Having chosen homelessness as the focus of their course project, young people from National Citizen Service (NCS) contacted our Petrus Hub team last week with donations to support our service users.
The young people, mainly aged 16 and 17, fundraised together to buy 20 bags of shopping to be shared with 12 males and 8 females we support.
They carefully took the time to choose different deodorants for all the bags and sanitary products for females and donated the £30 remaining from the money raised to our charity to support the services we provide.
For instance, this £30 could go towards us preparing 30 hot meals for 30 rough sleepers using our morning breakfast service. Or support 12 rough sleepers, people ‘sofa surfing’ or in temporary accommodation to have a warm shower and somewhere to wash and dry their clothes at our Hub.
NCS exists to engage, unite and empower young people, supporting them to have a clearer idea of what they want from their future, providing a platform for them pursue a passion project by taking all that they’ve learned and working together to turn their passions into action.
We’re glad they took the time to learn more about homelessness and how they can help, and want to thank them for supporting vulnerable people in our community with their passion project.
While at our Hub, to further their understanding, we spoke to them about some of the services we offer to rough sleepers, those in crisis and individuals who are at risk of homelessness; including the showering, washing and drying facilities, housing and domestic abuse support, HART nurses, wellbeing services and breakfast available onsite so individuals can access the support they may need in one place.
The young people from NCS said they had thoroughly enjoyed their course, that it had given them additional skills and increased confidence when speaking with members of the public.
They also asked about volunteering opportunities with Petrus and we look forward to hopefully inviting them to join our team in the future so they can build on the skills and understanding they have developed through this project.