B&Q Chelmsford

Sanctus is a charity supporting homeless and vulnerable people in Chelmsford and the surrounding areas. We are the only day-centre in a significant part of Essex. Sanctus operates a three-story building, on our ground floor is the Sanctus Café which provides a safe and warm environment. We provide free nutritious meals which are served alongside hot and cold drinks, snacks, sandwiches and pastries. In addition to this, we distribute clothes, tents, sleeping bags, sanitary products, toiletries and other essential items. Through our Café, we are able to offer food, warmth and a safe haven, but this service is designed as a gateway to build trust and lead individuals on to accessing wider support. In 2021 over 15,000 meals were served and over 16,000 food items were collected from local businesses and distributed that otherwise would have gone to waste. Our Support Hub on the 2nd and 3rd floors offers free support services, including 1:1 mentoring, assistance with gaining housing and sustaining tenancies, benefits applications, furnishing homes, addiction and mental health support, health and wellbeing advice and signposting, and a range of other advocacy services. We work to target the root causes of why someone is homeless, at risk of being homeless or other vulnerabilities. Just one support session may be the one that turns someone’s life around or prevents life impacting actions. Over 2,000 support sessions were completed in 2021. The purpose of our organisation it to provide a centre in the heart of the city where individuals, with various complex needs, can come and receive food and support. This is a community space, which we invite other service providers to utilise, to generate a holistic approach to supporting individuals. We believe that everyone should have a safe and secure home, food on the table and network of support. Our aim is to be there for vulnerable people at a moment of crisis and provide them with the necessary help. From this moment, we then work alongside them in their journey to recovery to help them to take steps to lead a positive life. Referrals to other services can often take time, which leaves individuals in an extremely vulnerable state. At Sanctus, we are able to provide immediate support in these interim periods and continue to provide support alongside other services. What is unique about our services, is there is no criteria to receive our support. Our work is person centred, meaning we tailor our support offering to each individual. We aim to help vulnerable individuals to build confidence and trust in support services, so they can receive help both from us and other agencies and statutory services.

The PTA of Newlands Spring Primary school are helping to source donations to enable our children to spend more time outside the classrooms whatever the weather. To do this we require wood and felt to make 13 welly storage cupboard, one for each class plus little benches for children to change their shoes. We would like to make an outdoor waterproof library, and dressing up boxes on castors to name a few.

Essex Dementia Care is a small local Essex based charity with over fifteen years’ experience helping people with dementia continue to live active and fulfilling lives, keeping them out of full time care for longer. As part of the service, EDC also provide valuable support and respite to family carers. Our One2One ‘Memory Companion’ service is tailored to the individual’s personality and needs, enabling them to maintain a sense of well-being and independence for as long as possible. We also run several activity groups that are designed to support different stages of the dementia journey within a social setting. Our services have also proven invaluable for providing care givers with much-needed respite. Our One2One ‘Memory Companion’ service is tailored to the individual’s personality and needs, enabling them to maintain a sense of well-being and independence for as long as possible. We also run several activity groups that are designed to support different stages of the dementia journey within a social setting. Our services have also proven invaluable for providing care givers with much-needed respite. The ’Every Day Counts’ groups support people in the earlier stages of dementia whilst the Oasis groups have a gentler schedule suited to those whose dementia has progressed further. Activity groups are held at Bradwell, Braintree and at Sandon, Broomfield, Writtle and Chelmer in Chelmsford. Although EDC do charge for services, the charges do not cover the full cost of providing the service and EDC do ask for support with surplus food and donations to assist with the cost of providing the services. We offer a FREE ‘Taster Day’ for new clients at our activity centres and alternatively a FREE two hour One2One session so that people can see if service is right for them.