Volunteers gave almost half a million hours to church night shelters last year
from Premier:
A total of 490,063 hours were provided by volunteers at church and community night shelters last year, a report has found.
The data gathered by the national Christian homeless charity, Housing Justice showed that this was an increase of more than 112 per cent on the previous year.
The charity has estimated that the value to the time given is worth £6.1 million based on ONS average earning figures.
The report found that almost 2,000 people were welcomed into Winter Night Shelters across England and Wales in 2015.
Speaking on Premier News Hour, Deputy Director Jacob Quagliozzi from Housing Justice said: “No amount of data will ever capture the difference that night shelters and volunteers make.
“Listening to people tell their stories or the challenges they face, is the added bit of the service in addition to a bed that night shelters offer.”
Quagliozzi added that the volunteers provide vital support to the homeless community: “Increasingly night shelters are a safety net for people that statutory services are struggling to provide care and support for. Christians working in night shelters are the first responders of the housing crisis.”
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