Dear All,
We have all been affected by the pandemic in one way or another. Two of our 3 Trustees have had the virus despite vaccinations and taking precautions. In the 20 months after the first lockdown started, the Government’s Duty of Care meant Councils had to find hotel or B & B accommodation for all rough sleepers. This may have been better than sleeping out in the cold, but they were moved from one place to another, often with little notice, and had no cooking facilities. Various charities tried to deliver food both to them and to those in vulnerable housing. We have therefore had fewer calls on us for help.
However, as was mentioned in our report and appeal last year, we had been put in contact, through a staff member at The Gatehouse, with a person who had been a rough sleeper but was in temporary accommodation. As well as a lack of cooking facilities there was nowhere to wash clothes, so one of the Trustees did a few loads of washing! Then in November, when the Council’s duty of care was about to end and this individual would have been back on the streets again, a Trustee found accommodation for 5 months. NOAAH paid 3 months’ rent and a Trustee found another charity which paid the fourth month’s rent. NOAAH also bought him a cycling helmet and referred him to the Community Emergency Foodbank so he could collect food to cook at the flat. He has now been found permanent housing by The Gatehouse, but NOAAH is helping with the maintenance charges for the first few months until his benefits become available. We have also continued to support the Summertown Big Issue sellers Danny and Paul, who have been assisted by NOAAH for 10 years.
We hope that by the start of next year we shall be a registered C.I.O, which will mean we can claim and benefit from Gift Aid as well as being able to collect from the wider community.
Now that life is returning to some degree of normality, there are likely to be more calls on our resources, which are in a good position at the moment but we already have some other ideas for extending our remit.
The 8 churches of North Oxford/Wolvercote/Wytham and their congregations have been most generous over the last 10 years and we are most grateful for the support they have given.
Please consider NOAAH in your Advent/Christmas collections and appeals? Our Just-giving website has been re-activated for Advent and you can access it from this link:
www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/noaah-christmas2022
Wishing you all a very Happy and Holy Advent and Christmas season.
Best wishes.
Andrew Bunch, Diana Clews & Mark Pyper
(Trustees of NOAAH)
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