Welcome to our March blog! There’s been lots of activity here at Cyrenians so read on for the latest news of our residents, our projects and our supporters.

Residents and staff said farewell to Manager, Brian Holman, who has left Cyrenians after 21 years. During that time, he’s transformed us from a charity that had just a few projects and staff members into a charity that today provides one third of all homeless accommodation in the city. Recognising the importance of mental health issues, Brian recruited an onsite mental health nurse and four counsellors so that residents can access support quickly. He also set up many initiatives including the controlled drinking project. We are really sad to see Brian leave but thank him for all the work he’s done for the homeless in Cambridge and we wish him every happiness in his new life in France.

Ten new residents moved in to our accommodation in March. Some were rough sleepers, some were sofa surfing and others were referred by the youth provision. A young woman who moved into our women only accommodation was able to see Louise, our onsite Mental Health Nurse, within two days and is now having counselling with one of our in house counsellors. One man had been rough sleeping after leaving prison. Shanice, our Meaningful Activities Worker, is helping him with his CV and getting back into work.

We are so grateful to Cambridge Homeless Outreach Project, a group of students from Cambridge University, who gave up their time to paint the living room and hallway of one of our residential properties. They made a brilliant job of it!

We run two women only houses, each of which is supported by a dedicated Project Worker who helps residents with budgeting, attends appointments with them and is generally there for them at any time. Residents are also supported by Louisa, our Mental Health Nurse, and Shanice, our Meaningful Activities Worker. One of our female residents will shortly be moving in to social housing which we helped her secure. We’ll help her move in, make sure she has what she needs and will continue to be available for advice and support if and when she needs it.

We’ve been delighted to receive four donations for our allotment project. £1,317.12 came from Good Gifts (www.goodgifts.org) and several colleges have provided funding. Thank you to Trinity College (£400), Homerton College (£150) and Darwin College (£75). Down on the allotment, a group has built a rather fine bike shed from materials bought with these donations. Mark and Chantelle constructed the frame from pallet wood. Fred, Jo and Kate painted the frame and Luke laid chippings on a membrane for flooring while Mark attached a bike to the roof and installed a water butt to harvest rainwater. Another team finished making a living fence out of willow to create a natural border for the beekeeping area.

Our thanks go to The Trinity Singers who raised £195.84 in a collection after their recent concert in Trinity College Chapel. We plan to put this money towards helping a resident buy what he needs to set up home as he moves on into his own accommodation in the near future.

Last month, we mentioned a Sudanese resident who is attending an English adult learning course to help with his language skills and integration. He came to us after losing his privately rented property when he was no longer able to work because of an injury. He is doing so well on the course, undertakes lots of independent study and is improving rapidly. We now hope to fund additional one to one English lessons to help build his language skills.