Impact Report 2023: A Year of Surprises!
Hello friends, we never expected that Prince William would visit, and sit on our dusty sofa at the carpentry workshop to compare notes with our Trainees about the things he wished he had learnt at school. Our Trainees were so impressed with his interest and proud that their efforts and outcomes received a royal stamp of approval!
We never expected that businesses would immediately follow up the visit to commission a whole range of goods from wooden platters to reception desks, offer placements on exciting training courses and donations of four years’ worth of sandpaper and beautiful offcuts of wood!
We never expected to be standing in front of a packed Chamber of Commerce Christmas Celebration, looking at a huge pile of donations that businesses of all shapes and sizes had given to help our rough sleeper support team. We never expected to receive donated tickets to Brownsea Island enabling 40 SMILE lone parent family members to visit during the summer, most for the first time.
The generosity continued: individuals gave their time to enable the Nourish Community Larder to become a reality in Blandford; a new (warm!) warehouse space was provided for Poole Food Bank+ so that we could cut our costs; and funders both big and small gave money to ensure that we continue to give practical, relational and prayerful help to over 7,000 people.
Sadly, we never expected that demand for our services would continue to rise so much. But thanks to over 270 determined volunteers and now more than 40 passionate staff, we will continue to follow our strapline to listen, give hope, act and inspire… for the next person… and the next… and the next. Thank you – continue to be inspired and inspiring.
Alistair Doxat-Purser, CEO
200+%
Increase in people coming to our Food Banks over the last 2 years
269
People helped on their journey out of debt by our Faithworks CMA team
100+
Lone parent families received support through our SMILE project
31
People moved from living on the streets into their own home in the last 6 months, thanks to our Homelessness team
67
Landmarks for our Recovery guests such as registering for a GP or giving up alcohol in the last 3 months, thanks to our Arch Recovery team
26
People starting employment and volunteer training thanks to our Hope into Action and Training teams
Projects we support across Dorset
Faithworks works alongside people, practically building hope and resilience.
We run practical projects around food, finance, recovery, homelessness and lone parenting in urban Dorset.
We want every single person locally to be within 15 minutes of a place of welcome that radiates life, community and immediate help.
Thank you
Thank you to individuals who give time to collect, pack and distribute food, drive vans, teach woodwork skills, tend gardens, help people understand where their money goes, sit and chat to those escaping addiction, help do the laundry for people getting off the street, play games with the children of SMILE families, have birthday meals with Hope Into Action tenants, cook for community meals, turn up each week to pray for the homeless – you are life changers.
Thank you to wise and generous funders of all sizes, whether grant making bodies or sacrificial individual donors – over 742 new donors between October 2022 and September 2023, or those who have invested in our 3 Hope into Action homes – you transform dreams into practical reality.
Thank you to partners, large and small. It is a privilege to play our part in the local Homelessness Partnership, the Access to Food Partnership, and the Gather BCP network of local Christian leaders – you give us new energy.
Thank you to over 40 local churches who partner with us by allowing us to rent their venues, co-deliver projects, and pray with us – and with them we thank God our Father “who fills us with all joy and peace… so that we overflow with hope.”
Next year is our 20th birthday! So, we want to tell stories to celebrate the lives that have been transformed since 2004, and the inspiring staff and volunteers who helped to make that happen… we want to laugh together, and we want to pray together.
But we also want to look forward: we want to do more prevention work with our “guests” about making healthy decisions around money; we want to continue to grow our community and friendship teams being there for people as they get out of homelessness and crisis; and we want to continue to build great partnerships whether they be with huge organisations like the Royal Foundation’s Homewards programme, or with local churches providing places of material help, belonging and space to reach out to God.
Regular donations help us to plan for long-term growth
Regular giving can be set up using our bank details
Bank: CAF bank
Sort Code: 40-52-40
Account number: 00015300
Alternatively follow the link below.
Gift Aid: if you are a tax payer, you can increase your donation by 25% at no extra cost to yourself.
