by Rosie Gammon
Here at Magenta, we are proud to support The Clock Tower Sanctuary, a Brighton-based charity that supports and rehabilitates young homeless people in the city. In our first financial year we donated £206.54, a small percentage of our profits, to the Sanctuary. This is in addition to the £175 donated to various charities, including Movember, the British Heart Foundation and Breast Cancer Care to support colleagues in the facilities management sector undertaking charity fundraising activities.
“Homelessness is a major problem in Brighton and it is particularly awful for people to be homeless in the winter and at Christmas,” said Cathy Hayward, managing director of Magenta. “We are therefore delighted to be able to offer some small support to the Clock Tower Sanctuary and hope that that backing will increase in line with Magenta’s own growth.”
The number of homeless young people in Brighton is rising. The Clock Tower Sanctuary aims to help transform the lives of these young people by providing a safe haven for them where they can find friendly faces and basic living necessities. The shelter also provides the support and advice the young people need to get their life back on track and to find a new home.
Their ‘crisis support’ services include a daytime place of shelter where young people can go to receive friendly help and advice on how to improve their situation. The shelter provides a number of essential living facilities such as: regular food, shower and clothes washing facilities, telephone and internet access and storage space for their personal items. These services allow the young people to stay healthy and preserve their dignity.
Their ‘move on’ support tackles the long-term problems linked to homelessness. Not only do they help the young people to find new jobs and accommodation, they also provide one-to-one support dealing with motivational problems, mental health, substance use and other issues which may be preventing them from finding a new home. There is also a range of creative skills- and character-building activities on offer to help users build confidence.
In 2011, 274 young people attended the Clock Tower Sanctuary’s services- the highest it’s been since 2005. These growing numbers mean that the shelter is more reliant than ever on the work of volunteers and donations in order that they can continue their valuable work in the local community. Magenta is proud to offer continuing support to this worthy cause.
