Women Only Mobile Night Shelter for Brighton

VOTE NOW TO GET BRIGHTON WOMEN’S MOBILE NIGHT SHELTER IN MOTION

Sussex Homeless Support needs your votes in the Aviva Community Awards for an urgently needed Brighton women’s mobile night shelter bus - closing date TUESDAY 20 NOVEMBER.

One of Sussex Homeless Support’s (SHS) priorities this winter is to kit out an out-of-service bus to provide beds, warmth and shelter to women experiencing homelessness. The charity needs your vote in the Aviva Community Fund, to win £10,000 vital funding towards the refuge bus.

The SHS charity, staffed entirely by volunteers, provided many nights of shelter last winter in a converted double decker bus on the seafront. Almost 300 people slept on the bus and had a hot meal at different points over the coldest months of 2017 and early 2018. Roughly 30 of those were women.

Jim Deans, who runs the charity, explains the need for a women’s only space: “Homeless levels are increasing in Brighton and Hove, but the support is decreasing. Alarmingly, there are more and more attacks on homeless people living on the streets and the bus will ensure there are fewer people on the streets. This would be an exclusively women’s only bus to provide safety and refuge.”

“Roughly 30 of the people who used the bus last winter were women. It is essential that vulnerable women have a safe haven; women’s only space away from the streets. It is not uncommon for women who are homeless or vulnerably housed to be sexually abused, raped and manipulated into providing sex in order to survive.”

The bus provided an essential lifeline for women in need last year.

Jim added: “We are hoping to raise this money for another homeless bus which will this time be a women’s only bus. It will provide shelter, somewhere for homeless women to wash, and somewhere they can get warm food. We would love those who support our endeavours to vote for us in the Aviva Challenge or provide a direct donation for our aims. The charity relies solely on volunteers, and this money will go towards kitting out the bus, the equipment, maintenance and running costs of the bus.”

Homlessness in England has more than doubled since 2010, with Brighton experiencing the highest increases across the UK in recent years.

You can vote for the SHS Women’s Night Shelter here: https://www.avivacommunityfund.co.uk/voting/project/view/4-1917

If you are interested in volunteering for the project, email: info@sussexhomelesssupport.co.uk

To donate directly to Sussex Homeless Support:

Sort code: 83-04-25, Account No: 19332059, Account name: Sussex Homeless Support

Sussex Homeless Support, 7E 196 Old Shoreham Road, Hove, BN3 7EX

Registered Charity Number 1175229.

Find us on Facebook – Sussex Homeless Support CIO

Or go to www.sussexhomelesssupport.co.uk

For further information contact:

Claudia Cahalane, PR, Sussex Homeless Support

Tel: 07540 892708

Email: claudiacahalane@gmail.com

Julia Nye, PR, Sussex Homeless Support

Tel: 07753 660775

Email: julia.a.nye@btinternet.com

Jim Deans, Founder, Sussex Homeless Support

Tel: 07774 266244

Email: jimdeans@devlinmediagroup.co.uk