Help plug £50,000 funding gap for homeless

DENS, which operates emergency shelter The Elms on the Redbourn Road in Hemel Hempstead in partnership with Dacorum Borough Council, estimates around 150 people sleep homeless in the borough each night.

Now they say that £12bn of cuts to UK’s welfare budget makes situation grave for the most vulnerable people in our community – and it is only 
going to get worse.

The charity’s CEO, Andrew Liversidge, said: “The number of people helped at the DENS Day Centre has increasedby 60 per cent since last year.

“The Elms’ 41 beds are already at full capacity, with a queue of 4-8 people most days.

“Last year, we helped around 640 people with housing-related issues and a further 3,135 by providing emergency food parcels. This year, with your help, we will support even more people.”

You can help by donating as little as £10, which will pay for seven hot lunches at the day centre.

A gift of £20 will provide a tank of fuel for the charity’s van, which delivers food 
parcels and collects unwanted furniture, while £30 pays for one week’s food for a DENS resident.

A day’s worth of heating at The Elms would cost £40 and an employment training skills session would be equal to a £50 donation.

There are plans in place for 500 emergency food parcels to be handed out between November and February next year. Visit www.DENS.org.uk/WinterAppeal for more information on how to donate.