Urgent Christmas Tent Appeal launched for homeless in North Devon and Torridge

An urgent Christmas Tent Appeal has been launched to help rough sleepers in North Devon and Torridge as miserable winter weather begins to bite.

Torridge Rough Sleeper Project with Encompass Southwest and Safer Streets are asking people to think about donating what they may have spent on Christmas cards to help buy tents and equipment for homeless people facing a bleak festive season of cold, wind and rain.

It follows a hugely successful appeal last year that raised more than £1,900 thanks to the generosity of people across both districts that saw more than 40 tents, as well as countless sleeping bags, coats, clothes, footwear and other essentials provided to those who had nothing.

With the double whammy of a cost of living and housing crisis, homeless charities are bracing for a bad winter and donations towards tents or vital supplies could literally make the difference between life and death for people who find themselves sleeping rough.

Encompass Southwest has set up an online JustGiving page where people can donate to buy a tent for a homeless person for as little as £30, or if they wish to spend less, other donations will buy essential items such as sleeping bags, hats, socks or toiletries.

Generous donors will receive an ‘e-card’ by email thanking them for their donation, which they can send out to friends, family and colleagues to show why they are not buying Christmas cards this year and how the money has been spent.

The Torridge Rough Sleeper project is a partnership between Torridge District Council and Encompass. It supports people in the district who are sleeping rough or at risk of doing so, with practical help such as tents and sleeping bags, plus ongoing daily support from the outreach team to monitor their welfare, with efforts made to try and move them into proper accommodation.

After the success of the first Christmas Tent Appeal last year, the team has secured funding from the Health Inequalities budget to fund its safer streets worker in Barnstaple until March 2024, to ensure the appeal helps people in both districts.

Josie Holt, rough sleeper outreach for the Torridge Rough Sleeper project said: “Homelessness doesn’t always look like people bedding down in high street doorways.

“Across Torridge we support many people who are rough sleeping in hidden or rural locations, as well as sleeping in cars or sheds, or ‘sofa surfing’ with no certainty of where they will sleep from one day to the next.

“This uncertainty and lack of security has hugely detrimental effects on people both physically and mentally and we work to support people in any way we can. Sometimes that might look like providing a tent and bedding, or it might be support to access health services or appropriate benefits.

“We will always try to get people into appropriate accommodation as swiftly as possible, but for a variety of reasons some folk will find themselves sleeping rough for varying periods of time. In these circumstances, it’s vital we have good equipment such as waterproof tents and clean warm bedding to support them.

“The government’s current focus is on training and education as a pathway out of homelessness, so we have no budget available for tents or bedding and we really rely on donations from the community to provide these.

“The amazing response to the appeal last winter meant we were able to keep up a stock of suitable equipment all year and no one has had to go without.

“But now we really need your help once again and are turning to the good will of the community to help us to continue to help those who find themselves homeless this winter.”

If you can donate something to the Christmas Tent Appeal, please go to www.justgiving.com/campaign/tentappeal23 or you will find it on the Encompass Southwest website at www.bpag-encompass.org.uk.