UK Electrical have been doing their bit to help get homeless youngsters from the West Midlands off the streets and into a safe place this Christmas by supporting St Basils youth homelessness charity.
Staff and suppliers have generously raised a total of £2,470, which has allowed us to provide 20 Starter Kits and 30 Christmas Gift Bags to those in need. Our team worked collaboratively to gather all the necessary items and personally delivered them to St Basils to be distributed to those who would benefit the most this holiday season.
Homelessness & St Basils
St Basils works with 16-25 year olds in the West Midlands who have found themselves homeless for all sorts of reasons, including:
- Bereavement
- Violence and abuse
- Leaving the care system
- Insecure employment
- Lack of affordable housing
- Inequality
- Mental / physical health
- Drugs and alcohol
There are around 86,000 young people experiencing homelessness in the UK and 8,500 in the West Midlands alone. St Basils’ aim is to prevent youth homelessness by providing a safe place to stay, and providing training and support so that each youngster can ultimately move into their own accommodation.
St Basils has 40 supported accommodation schemes across Birmingham, Bromsgrove, Kidderminster, Redditch, Leamington, Sandwell Solihull and Walsall.
Making a difference
When someone has been sleeping rough, they have absolutely nothing to call their own. The starter kits provide some basic items (most of which we take for granted) to enable them to carry out their own cooking, washing and cleaning and supplies them with their own towels and bedding.
Each of the 20 starter kits includes:
- A full bed set: duvet, pillows, cover, pillow cases and fitted sheet
- Towels: 2 sets of bath and hand towels
- Kitchen crockery: dinner plate, side plate, bowl and full cutlery set
- Kitchen essentials: frying pan, saucepan, tin opener and wooden spoon as well as laundry capsules and tea bags
- Kitchen electricals: toaster and kettle
- Toiletries: toilet roll, toothbrush and toothpaste
- Sharing bags chocolate / sweets
The 30 Christmas gift bags have a few essential items together with some goodies including a hat and gloves, stationary, sanitary products, condoms, toiletries, cupboard foods, biscuits, chocolate and sweets and will be given to the youngsters living at St Basils to enjoy.
Debbie Fellows, Operations Director at UK Electrical said;
“We are so proud to support St Basils. No-one chooses to be homeless, and but for the grace of God, it could happen to any of us.
I am delighted with the amazing response from our staff and suppliers again this year. Times are hard for everyone at the moment, and it is wonderful that people still find it in their hearts to be kind and generous to others.
We know that the kits and gifts will be used and appreciated by many and we are so glad that we are in a position to be able to help them in these difficult times.
We’d like to send a huge thank you to all of our suppliers who have helped us with this mission including: Avalon Technology, HS Electrical, Sirius Lighting, Edmunsons West Bromwich, Eaton Electrical, KDS Solutions and CEF”
You can support St Basils in tackling youth homelessness in the community by visiting their website and donating online.
Christmas Donations for St Basils
