ROBES PROJECT
This year St Matthew’s is not participating in the Robes Project.
In previous years we have hosting guests from the Robes Project in the first half of the winter.
Volunteers ate with the guests, and spent the night in the church alongside the guests.
We are enormously grateful to Gremio de Brixton, the spanish restaurant in the crypt of St Matthew’s, who provided the meal, as well as volunteers who provided salads, desserts and vegetarian alternatives, and gave so much of their time to.
We hope to participate in the Robes project again in the future, but in the meantime, anyone wishing to volunteer can contact other local venues here:
https://robes.org.uk/volunteering-in-our-night-shelters
HISTORY OF THE ROBES PROJECT
The Robes Project was set up in January 2007 to support people who are homeless, by running a temporary night shelter in churches, church halls, community halls. It operates between November and April of each year and hosts between 15 and 20 guests each night.
The Robes charity supports approximately 50 people each year, each of them staying for about a month. The The Robes charity supports approximately 50 people each year, each of them staying for about a month. The guests have accommodation, breakfast and dinner, community with fellow guests and volunteers and, of course, they have access to an advice worker.
The stability and rest afforded by staying at the night shelter provides a platform for them to address other issues they face such as their housing, health, relationships, finances and legal matters.
It has over 400 volunteers who run the night shelters in teams. About 21 church venues host the project on a rota basis. Without the dedication of the volunteers and churches, the whole project would not be able to operate.
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Annually the Robes Project runs fundraising events. The biggest event is a Sleepout at Southwark Cathedral, London Bridge. Over the past three years this event has raised over £200,000 which has been crucial to the continuation of the vital work of the project.
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