AF&RS team up with local charity to offer food and shelter for people experiencing homelessness this Christmas

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Wednesday, 19 December 2018 09:14

Avon Fire & Rescue Service (AF&RS) has teamed up with local charity Caring in Bristol to offer food and shelter over the Christmas period.

On the 29th December, firefighters and volunteers from across the Service will come together to open Temple fire station as a pop-up ‘Caring at Christmas’ style service to help people experiencing homelessness in the period between Christmas and New Year.

Between 12pm and 2pm, anyone is welcome to pop into the station for a hot meal and somewhere dry and warm to rest.

To help as many people as possible, the Service has teamed up with the local charity, Caring in Bristol who run their flagship Caring at Christmas project over the festive period each year.

Caring at Christmas provides support to homeless and vulnerable people in the city, helping plug the gap in services over Christmas.

For 2018, over 700 volunteers will come together to give around 150 homeless and vulnerable people in Bristol food, warmth, company, shelter and support.

Mick Crennell, Chief Fire Officer for AF&RS, said: “Our work in the community goes beyond just fire safety or incident response and we aim to do what we can to support those in the community.

“No one should be left hungry, cold or homeless this Christmas so by offering food and shelter even for the briefest time, we hope to offer some respite.

“We have some dedicated and committed staff who wanted to give something back this Christmas. They came to us suggesting they wanted to help out in any way and offering Temple fire station is just a small gesture we can offer to help.”

Caring in Bristol Charity Director, Ben Richardson explains: “Our Caring at Christmas project has run for over 30 years and is Caring in Bristol’s flagship project.

“Evolving the ‘pop-up’ nature of the project means that it can be adopted by other community partners, helping ensure that together we make a big impact on people sleeping rough and experiencing homeless in Bristol this Christmas.

“We’re working hard to stay true to our charity’s values as a local organisation, striving to create a caring city, empowered to end disadvantage.

“We really believe that through working together and mobilising our city we can help support people out of homelessness together this Christmas and beyond.”

Caring in Bristol Assistant Director, Lisa Spice added: “It’s incredibly important to Caring in Bristol that we empower our community to take action.

“Our #BristolCares Christmas campaign is focused on providing our city with informative messages about homelessness in Bristol and helpful steps that people can take to support people off the streets. We’re really proud that our local Fire Service has teamed up with us in helping make a difference.”

You can donate to Caring in Bristol’s #BristolCares appeal and support people in Bristol out of homelessness by donating online via https://caringinbristol.co.uk/donate £39 pays for one person to access their Caring at Christmas day centre for five days.

For more information regarding Caring in Bristol and their Caring at Christmas project please contact: Fundraising and Communications Lead, Jenny Duffy (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., 0117 924 4444).