The Clock Tower Sanctuary

I’m sure that you, like so many, are looking forward to Christmas – an opportunity to gather with family and enjoy the most special time of the year, exchanging presents by the tree and enjoying dinner in the warmth of your home. For a young homeless person, Christmas isn’t such a happy occasion. They tell us it can be a time of deep uncertainty and fear. They may be living on the streets, sleeping in the cold and wet and enduring the constant threat of violence and abuse, or sofa surfing, constantly on the move with no permanent place to call their own.

At The Clock Tower Sanctuary, we usually help between 180 and 200 young homeless people in a given year. In addition to emergency council accommodation, they need extra support too – particularly during December, when it’s cold and dark, and Christmas, with all the emotion that day brings, draws closer. For so many different reasons, these vulnerable young people often can’t be with their families. For them, The Clock Tower Sanctuary’s staff and volunteers may be the only ‘family’ they can turn to.

This was how it was for Theo, who’d been sleeping on the streets for three years, since he was 16 years old. It was December 2019 when he walked through the door at The Clock Tower Sanctuary. Hungry and cold, Theo was given a hot meal and a shower and, from that day on, his life began to change. We provide hot meals, a chance to do laundry, emergency support and an opportunity to think about the future, rather than living from day to day. For many young people, it’s an opportunity to turn their lives around. All the young homeless people who come to The Clock Tower Sanctuary’s drop-in centre receive a Christmas present. When, for whatever reason, they can’t be with family, we make sure they feel cared for. Like other vulnerable young people who come to the centre, Theo finally felt safe again. With the help of his key worker, he found temporary accommodation. And over the weeks that followed, instead of surviving day to day, he began to think of the future.

With your support, we can raise £12,000, enough to keep the centre open for the month of December. During that time, we’ll be able to give the young people who come in a nutritious meal, as well as a hot shower and essential toiletries, and a place to do their laundry. Just as importantly, we can provide a space where they can meet with a key worker, receive emergency support, and begin to think of a way forward. Thanks to you, there’ll also be a present under the tree for them to unwrap, so they feel cared for at what can be a very lonely time of year.

www.thects.org.uk