Your Gift Matters

In December we launched our Always Room Advent Appeal to help fund The Sanctuary, the Marylebone Project’s newly launched 24/7 day centre for homeless women in London, as well as Laurence Bellew’s ‘Lifegards’ work at Newry Centre of Mission in Ireland. So far you have raised £36,124 of the £40,000 target!

Sue Way is Church Army’s Senior Homeless Manager and sees first-hand how your generous response to the Always Room Advent Appeal is already making a real and lasting difference to the women who visit The Sanctuary.
Sue writes…

Advent should be a time of preparation where we, as individuals, can stop, take a breath, and prepare for the wonderful event of Christmas. Unfortunately, for many people Advent and Christmas are reminders of what they don’t have in their lives and can create anxiety, pain, and distress. For our work with vulnerable women at the Marylebone Project, Advent is also a time of preparation where we need to devote ourselves to making Christmas as meaningful as possible
for those who are staying with us or visiting the Sanctuary. We wanted them to know that Marylebone is their home. We made Christmas special with decorations, a traditional Christmas dinner, buffet meals and provided presents for
each of the women. It was lovely to see the women excited on Christmas Day morning, almost like small children, and they were not afraid to show their excitement, perhaps reminding them of what they should have experienced in previous years and what they have missed from their childhood.

As such, Christmas Day was a lovely day with a warm and friendly atmosphere with everyone sharing a wonderful time with their newfound ‘family’. This experience will be something that they will take into their future homes and help
them on their road to successful long-term independent living. It was because of your response to the Always
Room Advent Appeal that we were able to make Christmas special and to show God’s love to those who feel unloved, uncared for and unwanted, in practical ways. So, thank you for being there for us, being there with us and for all
that you do to help and support us in our work.

You save many vulnerable women from feeling lonely and distressed, you also ensure that young children know that they are valued and have worth, you make it possible for more evangelists to take love and hope to the unreachable parts of society. We give thanks to God for your support, especially as we look ahead and continue to bring hope through 2022 and beyond.

Sue Way
Senior Homeless Manager & S.W. Mission Development Officer