Local Landlords Enjoy Christmas Party and Feed The Homeless
The PDPLA Christmas Party was well attended by members and guests this year, in its new location at The Royal Beach Hotel in Southsea. Around 100 members and leaders of local charities and the city council joined to celebrate another year over and to raise money for local homeless charities.
This year we decided to raise funds for Two Saints, who provide a great deal of support to help the homeless back into housing and also, The Roberts Centre which offers a range of services for the most vulnerable including several which help those who have dropped out of the benefits system to get back into it. Apart from enjoying the food, the excellent magician and the Christmas music, members raised over £400 for our chosen charities from a series of events on the night successfully organised as previously by PDPLA member Charlie Cherry.
Motivated by a hatred of waste and a desire to spread a little Christmas cheer to those who have dropped off the bottom of the housing ladder, committee members Carl and Tony packed 30 bags of leftover food from the party. They visited The Hard, Guildhall Square, Commercial Road, Albert Road and Palmerston Road (the only area they found no street dwellers).
They observed afterward that:
• A few restaurants had beaten them to the mark, well done Feed at The Hard.
• 17 homeless people were fed on the night, all full of gratitude.
• At no point did Tony or Carl feel threatened in any way.
• They only encountered two gentlemen who were clearly under the influence of excess alcohol.
• Everyone was polite and articulate guiding them to others in the same situation.
• They managed to have a long chat with one guy:
o He had lived on the streets for two years.
o He had lost all has ID paperwork so could not open the bank account he needed to get any benefits.
o He did not like the official shelters as, he said, "they attract nasty alcoholics and drug addicts".
o He had been in prison for begging "how else would I survive". This he hated but knows others who beg in the hope of being arrested, fed and housed.
o It was late so they did not dig further into his private life but gave him £5 towards getting a copy of his birth certificate.
• Compared with the same time last year there were less people sleeping in doorways down Commercial Road. Sadly the Central Point homeless drop in centre report more visitors than last year, and with 28 new beds provided by the Society of St James (at PCC expense) in St Mary"s, this probably also accounts for the drop in numbers.
Carol Damper, MBE, CEO of the Roberts Centre said at the party that she believed an even more serious problem was that of working families on incomes too low to feed themselves properly. Top up benefits have been cut back. They are not all wasting their money on big TVs, cigarettes and booze. Many of them are our tenants as we continue to struggle to fill the role of social housing that has been sold off or reduced. A sobering thought while we all enjoy Christmas.