Working at The Connection is amazing and you feel like you are making a difference every day.

It’s busy all year round and it gets particularly hectic at Christmas. With winter setting in and the cold weather, our clients need us more than ever. We also receive a huge amount of support through volunteering, fundraising and gifts in kind.

It is an amazing reminder to us and our clients that we aren’t on our own.

Rough sleeping has risen 21% since last year and people need us more than ever.

Today we’ll have over 100 people in our centre getting practical help, access to activities and support to tackle the underlying causes of their homelessness. At St Martin’s House in Clapham, we are providing a home for 15 women who have slept rough in South London.

Over the year, we’ve helped nearly 200 people into accommodation, we’ve given over 200 people advice and support to normalize their immigration status, 92 people have accessed our drug and alcohol treatment clinic and we’ve helped 56 people to get back home.

Earlier on in the month, when temperatures dropped below zero, we opened our centre overnight as an essential part of the Council’s Severe Weather response.

On behalf of our clients, staff, volunteers and trustees – thank you all very much for everything you’ve done to support us this year. We wish you a very merry Christmas and a happy new year.