Comfort and Joy: Churches helping to house the homeless in Portsmouth will be boosted by Christmas voucher campaign

With four houses across the area, Hope Into Action Portsmouth is working with churches to provide direct support to people who are homeless through congregations and investors buying houses to lease to the charity.

Hope Into Action Portsmouth, which was set up as a franchise in 2018 from the larger charity, is set to get a festive boost from the News-backed Comfort and Joy campaign which will see thousands of pounds in supermarket vouchers shared between 10 charities.

These vouchers give the gift of choice, as recipients are able to purchase exactly what they want with the money.

Caroline Deans​, empowerment worker, said: ‘Many of our tenants are reliant on food banks to help them get by on a week-by-week basis, which is a great resource, but they don't have choice over what they're given, and the parcels usually contain the “essentials".

‘At Hope into Action one of our core values is to empower people. Giving someone the opportunity to choose a treat at Christmas is a great way of shifting the power back to people who are often dealing with lots of things in life which are out of their control.’

Already involved with the charity are North End Baptist Church, Cosham Baptist Church, St Jude’s in Southsea and Langstone Church.

St Mary’s has signed up to provide the next house in the area, and the St Mary’s community will support the tenants with items they need and offer friendship.

Michelle Treacher, operations manager, said: ‘Our aim is to open as many houses as we can in partnership with as many churches in Portsmouth as we can. The idea is that the house isn’t a permanent house forever, it’s a stepping stone. The church is very much involved in taking the lead and providing the home.

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‘We try to provide a house that we would want to live in because it shows we value them as people.

‘When we have seen people move in and there’s flowers and cards from the church and food in the cupboards, it’s very lovely to see people feeling moved.’

Visit portsmouth.hopeintoaction.org.uk to learn more or get involved with the charity.

HOW TO HELP

To get involved with the voucher scheme, simply buy a Christmas card and write a message, without including your name and address, and purchase a gift voucher of £5 to put inside the card.

Do not seal the envelope, and place the Christmas card into one of the festive postboxes in the area which can be found at Tesco stores in Havant, Fratton, Gosport and Portsmouth’s Crasswell Street.

Alternatively, send a gift card, cash or cheque payable to St Mary’s Church in the post to St Mary’s Vicarage, Fratton Road, Portsmouth, PO1 5PA or hand in at St Mary’s Church any morning between 9am and midday.

The deadline for receiving donations on December 18, after which time the donations will be distributed to the good causes.

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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