https://leweshomelink.org.uk/my-homelink-story-from-ceo-to-almost-homeless-in-a-week/
https://leweshomelink.org.uk/get-involved/
https://leweshomelink.org.uk/pray-for-homelink
https://leweshomelink.org.uk/open-garden-event-raises-2000
https://leweshomelink.org.uk/artwave-exhibition-a-hit-for-homelink/
https://leweshomelink.org.uk/homelink-helps-people-move-out-of-cold-caravans/
https://leweshomelink.org.uk/christmas-with-the-ashdown-singers-returns/
]]>Covid, Brexit and the cost of living crisis compounded to cause big problems for us, and so we went into administration, losing millions of pound of equity that we had in the company. Suddenly, we had over £3,000 in rent and bills to find each month with no way of paying it.
The council told us if we left the house, we’d be making ourselves voluntarily homeless so there would be very little they could do to help us. We didn’t want to sit in the property racking up more and more debt, but we were stuck.
Thankfully, the team at HOMELINK helped us navigate the housing system and find a way out. Following their advice we found a small flat on the outskirts of town through a private landlord and applied for a grant from the council which covered the first month’s rent.
When we moved in, we had absolutely nothing. We were living off benefits and couldn’t even afford a cupboard for our children’s clothes. HOMELINK provided us with funds to buy essential items and even gave us food vouchers at a time when we were extremely desperate. It was very difficult to ask for help, but I found the support from HOMELINK to be compassionate and flexible.
HOMELINK not only gave me practical advice, but emotional support as well. After I lost everything my mental health was really affected. In those first few weeks, the validation I got from speaking to HOMELINK regularly helped me enormously and gave me the confidence to pick things up again and move forward.
As told to Nuala Calvi
]]>For all in our area in need of housing for many reasons
Our five staff: Gabrielle, Gary, Fran, Shaun and Wendy
The Housing Department of Lewes District Council
The introduction of a new IT system in our office
]]>Guests enjoyed wandering around the beautiful gardens and visiting a range of stalls while listening to music from jazz band Work in Progress and local legends Lewkulele.
Strawberries and cream and afternoon tea were served courtesy of Tesco and The Co-op, while HOMELINK’s talented volunteers provided an array of irresistible bakes.
Barrack Cottage owners David and Karen Allam have hosted charity fundraisers at their property for more than 25 years, and HOMELINK was honoured to hold the last ever event there before the venue closes to the public.
Thanks are due to Waitrose for providing a selection of exotic fruit for the raffle, Boots for donating a First Aid Kit, The Seaford Afternoon & Evening Clubs for their floral arrangements, Coastwatch for managing the event parking and of course our HOMELINK supporters for the wide range of items generously donated to the raffle.
Trustee and event organiser Jane Lee said: ‘On behalf of everyone at HOMELINK, I wish to extend a huge thank you to everyone who has contributed to making this fundraiser such a success. It’s just not possible to hold these events without amazing volunteer support – thank you all so much!’
]]>Held at the grade II listed Castle Lodge, the weekend-long event featured work by landscape artist Adele Gibson and sculptor Pippa Burley, who exhibited in the house and garden respectively.
Five works of art were purchased, along with many cakes and biscuits baked by HOMELINK volunteers, raising almost £1,000 across the two afternoons.
HOMELINK chair Ros Kellaway said: ‘We were thrilled to receive several hundred visitors to the Artwave exhibition at Castle Lodge on September 9th and 10th.
‘We made it clear that even if people couldn’t buy a work of art, they could still help us by buying drinks and cakes and putting money in the collection boxes.
‘A big effort was made by our volunteers, who were baking furiously for the event, including overnight on the Saturday when it became obvious how popular the cakes and biscuits were.’
The event marked the first time that HOMELINK has been a beneficiary of Artwave, the annual artists’ open house festival in Lewes.
]]>Many people have turned to caravan living in the face of soaring rents in the South East. While it may seem like a viable solution in the summer months, during the winter life in a poorly heated caravan can be difficult and even dangerous.
John*, 34, is one of those who found himself living in a dilapidated static caravan, after the death of his parents caused him mental health difficulties. No longer able to work regularly, it was the only place he could afford to rent but it was unsuitable for his two children to come and stay at weekends.
‘It was horrible – very run down,’ says John. ‘There was frost on the inside of the caravan and it only had a tiny gas heater. I didn’t have any other options so I took it, but it meant I couldn’t have my kids over.’
John was referred to HOMELINK and quickly approved for an interest-free loan to cover a deposit on a rental property, while Lewes District Council provided him with the rent in advance. He now lives in a one-bedroom flat in Newhaven with a sofa bed so that his children can stay overnight.
‘I had lost the time with my kids, but now I’m in the flat they love coming to stay,’ he says. ‘The guys at HOMELINK gave me hope when I couldn’t see light at the end of the tunnel. Getting the loan gave me the drive to get back on my feet and go out and find a flat.’
HOMELINK also assisted Jane*, 60, who has mental health issues and had moved into a caravan after suffering harassment in a shared house.
‘The caravan cost £950 a month – it was an awful lot of money for not very much, especially without housing benefit, and a lot of the time I didn’t have enough money left for food,’ she says.
‘It was absolutely freezing throughout the winter. I put a mattress down on the floor and me and my dogs spent as much time as we could cuddled up on it. A woman in a camper van nearby nearly froze to death one night. There were no toilet facilities as the toilets had frozen.’
After receiving a loan for a rental deposit from HOMELINK, as well as vouchers to cover the cost of essential kitchen items, Jane was able to move into a one-bedroom flat.
‘It was such a wonderful feeling to be in my own home finally and to feel safe,’ she says. ‘I was so happy, I cried and cried.’
But Jane still thinks about those she left behind at the caravan site.
‘People don’t realise there are lots of these places around,’ she says. ‘Because people are desperate, they’ll take them.’
To help HOMELINK move more people like John and Jane into proper homes this winter, please consider making a donation to our Christmas Appeal.
*Names changed to protect identities
]]>The performance will be held at St Thomas More RC Church in Seaford at 3pm, and will be followed by tea and mince pies. Entry is free, with a collection at the door to support our Christmas Appeal.
The Ashdown Singers are a 20-strong chamber choir led by musical director Sam Barton. Their Christmas concerts have become a highlight of the local calendar, thanks to the high quality of their performances and their wonderfully festive repertoire.
This is the sixth year the ensemble has supported HOMELINK with their concert, which last year raised £800 for the charity.
]]>Our core service has flatlined. We are making fewer interest-free loans to assist with rent in advance and security deposits as the rental market has tightened, with fewer properties being available and at higher monthly rents. Sadly, the private rental market is now simply out of reach for many of those on lower incomes and/or reliant on benefits, especially given the disparity between local housing allowances and actual rents.
Conversely, our (non-repayable) Traditional Small Grants Programme has been inundated with referrals for essential household goods for those who cannot afford them. By September this year we had already received 110 applications, far in excess of the total for 2022 and from a wider referral base of statutory and charitable organisations. The allocated budget of £25,000 will be used up before the end of the accounting year, with trustees having to decide if they can find further funds for the programme before 2024 starts, when the budget is due to be replenished.
In addition, throughout 2022 and up until September 2023, HOMELINK was grateful to receive (and exhaust) one-off funding of £40,000 for a bespoke and additional Small Grants Project (which ran in parallel with the Traditional Small Grants Programme), designed specifically to assist with the cost of living crisis. The funder, the Enjoolata Foundation, allowed HOMELINK to design a grants programme to meet the needs of its applicants and clients.
This programme recently closed, having made an impressive 286 grants in the categories of Micro Emergency (151 grants made to assist those presenting with an immediate crisis, normally without food or energy supplies), Energy Savings (65 grants made for insulating items such as carpets and curtains) and Start Up (70 grants made for essential small items/food for those taking a new rental home).
The HOMELINK office continues to operate four days a week, Tuesday to Friday. It offers hope, compassion, signposting and practical advice to those who get in touch, many of whom are facing the most difficult of times. If we can help, we will – so please do contact us.
Gary Brettle & Shaun Gilbert, Client Managers
Gill Short, Lead Small Grants Administrator
In my first few months as HOMELINK Chair, I have been struck by the incredible level of support shown to us by the local community in and around Lewes. I’m constantly astonished by the wide range of groups that come forward offering to donate or raise money for us, from the congregation of St Mary’s Church Barcombe who recently donated £600, to the Inner Wheel ladies in Seaford and then in Lewes who chose us as their charity of the year, and the men’s Catholic group the Catenians who raised a large amount for us in 2022-23.
That’s in addition to the army of energetic volunteers who are always ready to roll up their sleeves to help make events like our recent Artwave exhibition and Open Garden day such a success. It’s clear that HOMELINK is very much rooted in the community here, and that connection is hugely important to us.
It’s thanks to your strong support that during 2022 we helped more than 120 people put a roof over their heads. Those who come to us are the hidden homeless – they might be living in a caravan like the people featured in our 2023 report, or crashing on their best friend’s sofa, or sleeping in a car.
Often, they are people who are working and can afford to pay rent, yet cannot find a tenancy because of the insurmountable barrier of paying a deposit and first month’s rent upfront. Often, they are people who have already been rejected by multiple agencies because they fall outside the criteria to qualify for help. That’s where HOMELINK steps in.
It doesn’t matter who needs our help – we look past people’s circumstances and treat every single person as a human being. Time and again, what our clients tell us is that alongside the practical support HOMELINK provides, the most important thing to them is the way they are treated by us: with kindness, compassion and dignity.
My best wishes,
Ros Kellaway, HOMELINK Chair
]]>