Mansfield homeless get survival kits to help them through covid and winter

Twenty five winter warmth survival kits and 25 Covid 19 hygiene packs were presented to the Beacon House project on Wood Street by the One Love Worldwide charity on Friday.

The hygiene packs contain sanitiser, soap, rubber gloves and masks and the cold weather kits include a warm sleeping bag, thermal hats, socks and gloves.

The charity was founded by Elizabeth Haigh, former head of sales and events at Nottingham Football Club.

Elizabeth said: “We recently launched our homeless winter emergency project, as part of it we wanted to also help homeless people in the Mansfield area.”

Beacon House is a homeless day centre but is currently closed to service users due to Tier 3 restrictions. The centre has continued work with the homeless through its partners Framework, Mansfield District Council and the YMCA. It is set to reopen in January.

The kits were handed over by Sufyaan Azam representing the charity to Beacon House project manager Louisa Hillman.

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Louisa said: "We are very grateful for the donations presented to us on Friday and will distribute them to help keep Mansfield’s homeless safe and warm over Christmas.”

For help for anyone facing homelessness see www.mansfield.gov.uk/housing or contact Mansfield District Council 01623 463463. Anyone who sees rough sleepers is asked to contact Framework’s Street Outreach 24-hour line 0800 066 5356 or www.streetlink.org.uk.

People are encouraged to donate food, clothing and money directly to homeless organisations for distribution. See www.mansfieldstreetsupport.co.uk for more information.

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