A bit later than planned, but our night shelter is now open.  It’s only been 1 week but we are already full.  As you may remember from previous posts, we only have 10 rooms available for guests.  Due to Covid19 each guest now has their own room which unfortunately means less room for others.  We have started a waiting list for rooms while we work with the council to try to move guests on to other accommodation.

As in all things new there are the inevitable teething problems.  We run two locations – one where we register guests during the day and provide an evening meal.  The other is a building with individual rooms for guests that recently underwent a major refurbishment.  We have never run a hostel type accommodation before, so it’s a learning curve for us all.
Obviously Covid has not helped in any way.  We are as Covid safe as we can possibly be, and we are very mindful of everyone’s safety and wellbeing.  However, we have lost a number of volunteers due to Covid concerns which we absolutely understand.  That has affected our ability to cover all shifts and are grateful for those who have offered to cover those gaps when they appear.  

If you would like to volunteer then do fill in the form on our website.

Christmas Donations

Christmas time is when we tend to receive a lot of donations.  Like last year, we are authorised to collect in Gravesend Town centre (outside Primark) on Saturday 12th and 19th December.  If you are in town then do come over and say ‘Hi’ to our team.  If you can’t make it and still want to make a donation then details on how to do this are on our website at
www.graveshamsanctuary.uk/donate/

If you want to give a gift of some kind to our guests then do be aware that they are severly restricted in what they can carry.  We also have very little space and so cannot take in items such as bedding, clothing and other items related to making a home.  Our partner church – Gravesend Methodist Church – run a daytime hub where our guests get clothing from.

Items that we can take include food that can be stored such as biscuits, chocolates, cakes and toiletry items – these are always welcome.  If you want to do this then do contact us at our email address or via our facebook page.

In getting items to us, please bring them to our registration centre at Longferry Court.  We are there Monday to Friday between 10am-12 noon, or call us on our landline (01474 328383) and leave a message.