Business

Local Businesses Come Together For Charity Christmas Appeal

Issue 64

Karbon Homes, Flooring Superstore, NICE Network and other businesses from across the region have come together to help launch a homelessness charity’s Christmas appeal to raise vital funds following a rise in rough sleepers during this year’s lockdowns

Earlier this month, Oasis Community Housing

launched their ‘Giving a Home’ campaign with

both a virtual, and a life-size gingerbread house

located at Gateshead’s Tesco Extra.

The Gateshead-based charity hopes the appeal will

aid their continued work delivering food, warmth

and medicines, along with counselling and a safe,

stable environment to people facing homelessness

throughout Christmas and 2021. While also

encouraging people to celebrate their own home

– in a year that has involved spending more time

indoors than ever before.

David Smith, Oasis Community Housing’s Chief

Executive, explains: “Our teams do early morning

outreach on the streets and they are seeing a real

spike in rough sleeping, and meeting many people

who are newly homeless. 2020 has been tough

for all of us, but can you imagine what it would

be like not to have somewhere safe and warm to

stay when everywhere else is closed? Our Giving

a Home appeal is about providing just that; more

than simply a roof overhead.”

The appeal’s online launch event invited businesses

to tune in wearing their best black and gold

attire – the charity’s colours – for an afternoon of

live music, charity stories and virtual fireworks.

Commenting on their involvement, Terri Hamilton

of NICE Network, a Sunderland-based Telecoms

Solutions company, said: “We are delighted to be

able to come together to support this exciting

event, and help make a big difference for people

facing homelessness this winter and into the New

Year.”

The virtual version of the ‘Giving a Home’

gingerbread house can be seen online, with

donations from businesses and individuals able

to ‘buy’ bricks, roof tiles and other festive treats

to help ‘build’ the confectionery home. For every

£2,000 raised a gingerbread person will move into

the house, enabling the charity to offer a real home

to someone facing homelessness throughout 2021

– with a generous donation from Karbon Homes,

which owns and manages almost 30,000 properties

across the North East and Yorkshire, having already

kick-started the appeal.

The charity’s real-life gingerbread house sits

just outside Trinity Square’s Tesco Extra on

snow frosted grass, which was gifted by Flooring

Superstore. Greig Anderson, Flooring Superstore’s

Regional Manager, commented: “As a business with

its head office in the North East, as well as several

stores, we are always pleased to be able to support

organisations and charities who are making a

difference to so many people in our region. Oasis

Community Housing are a perfect example. We

wish them every success with their gingerbread

house initiative.”

‘Giving a Home’, and the gingerbread houses,

will run until the end of January 2021. Oasis’

Chief Executive David Smith added: “We couldn’t

do what we do without the generous support

of businesses and individuals, so please do get

involved by spreading the word with a selfie at the

gingerbread house or by making a donation – it all

goes towards us giving a home to someone who

desperately needs it this Christmas and New Year.”

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