Charity Bethany Christian Trust set a target of raising £20,000 in one week to support people without a home this winter. They exceeded their weekly target within four hours thanks to the outstanding generosity of supporters, but want to ensure life saving support for even more people who are experiencing homelessness this Christmas.
The Buy a Bed campaign is part of the Big Give’s Christmas Challenge 2021, and during the Christmas Challenge week donations towards the charity’s Buy a Bed campaign were matched by Baillie Gifford and the Together Project, up to a total of £20,000.
The match funding goal has been reached but the charity’s Buy a Bed campaign continues, aiming to raise a further £30,000 to support people facing homelessness in Scotland’s capital.
The £21 Buy a Bed vouchers give someone who would otherwise be sleeping rough the opportunity to come in from the cold, with access to a warm and safe en-suite bedroom, hot meals and 24-hour support at the Rapid Re-accommodation Welcome Centre in Edinburgh.
With a focus on personalised care and support, the centre aims to not just provide safe warm beds for the night, but also helps people move on into more permanent accommodation as well as assistance with mental health, addiction, wellbeing, medical needs and accessing benefits.
This winter the City of Edinburgh Council are covering the cost of the room hire. Bethany are providing the large professional team to support people in crisis and are raising funds through the Buy a Bed campaign to enable this service. The Welcome Centre also relies on around 1,000 volunteers from churches across the Lothians who provide the catering and hot evening meals. The support provision at the Welcome Centre is also funded by the voluntary donations of trusts and foundations, individuals, local churches, companies and communities, as well as local and national government grants.
Alasdair Bennett, Chief Executive at Bethany Christian Trust said: “We are deeply grateful for the public support for the Welcome Centre. Giving a Buy a Bed gift card to friends and family this year will not only highlight the plight of people facing homelessness in Scotland, but also support this life saving work and give people like Hayley a new start and fresh hope.
“With just a few nights of wraparound support and safe en-suite accommodationat the Welcome Centre, during one of the lowest points in her life, Hayley has been assisted to move on to her own home for Christmas saying, ‘I feel really positive about my new home; I couldn’t be happier.’ Please consider being part of this opportunity to hold out hope to people in crisis.”
How can you get involved?
Buy a Bed voucher can be purchased online here and through Bethany shops in Edinburgh and East Lothian.
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