CHARITY
Kent Charity Profile:
THE BRIDGE TRUST
FOR THE HOMELESS AND VULNERABLE IN KENT, THE COLD WINTER MONTHS CAN BE PARTICULARLY HARD. THIS MONTH, WE SPOKE TO THE BRIDGE TRUST, A CHARITY THAT AIMS TO HELP THE HOMELESS, ABOUT WHY WHAT THEY DO IS SO IMPORTANT.
What is it that The Bridge Trust does, and why is it needed?
The Bridge Trust has been helping local homeless people for over 25 years. We provide community-based accommodation and tailored one-to-one support to help people change their lives. Our aim is to help people overcome whatever issues or barriers they may have to living independently.
What is the charity’ s history?
We started working in around 1990 when a few people from a local church had a vision for helping alleviate the street homelessness problems in west Kent. From there the charity was established and now has five properties giving accommodation to 23 people.
What makes you unique?
We provide our services specifically to single, homeless adults as these people are not entitled to any statutory help from their local authority; if they become homeless, without us they are on their own. Dealing with people from 18 years old up to retirement age of both sexes makes us unique in west Kent.
How many people have you helped over the years? Are there any stories that particularly stand out?
We have helped over 7,000 people with advice, mediation, sleeping bags, clothes and food, but our core service is accommodation-based support and we have housed over 700 people over the past 25 years.
Every person we help is individual and has their own story as to how they became homeless and how they turned their lives around. However, one person often comes to mind as he was visually impaired when he became homeless in the mid 1990s. The Trust gave him somewhere to live and the support he needed to move his life on. Being a keen swimmer, he managed to get into the Sidney Olympic swimming team where he won four
Olympic medals. He is now married with children and is a swimming coach. This is just one example of how someone can go from rock bottom to fulfilling their dreams.
How do you raise money?
The Trust has three main income streams. We have a contract with the county council to provide support services, but that only covers 25 % of our income needs. When people come into our accommodation they pay us rent – either from their salary or from housing benefit and this gives us around another 25 %. This leaves us with the problem of raising about 50 % of our income ourselves, through two charity shops, fundraising events, grants and general charitable donations.
Are there any upcoming events that our readers can get involved with?
We are one of the chosen charities supported by the Tunbridge Wells Half Marathon in February this year. We therefore have free
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