Derby Churches Night Shelter News

The Derby Churches Night Shelter is more than half way through, we have actually been open now for 78 nights out of 122.  Since the start of the night shelter we have had 216 guests through our doors in total, of those 136 stayed the night.  This means we are seeing a reduction in the number of people just accessing us for food and going back to their own accommodation.  So we are really reaching out and helping those people in most need, with no roof over their heads. With the change in the weather our average number of guests each night is increasing.  We are regularly now seeing in excess of 24 guests most nights.  All think it has helped us as a new project that we had lower numbers initially and fewer incidents, so as numbers and some incidents have occurred as a whole team we have grown into it with much more confidence to deal with things as they arise.Thank you so much to all those who are praying for the night shelter.

It is reported by the management team that the respect and credibility Derby Night Shelter has in the city is phenomenal.  Recently, the head of Derby City Council Paul Bayliss along with a number of other councillors came along to one of our evenings at the Cathedral, and couldn’t believe how well things were organised, how peaceful the evening was, and how wonderful the volunteers were.  The Management team are receiving lots of comments about how Derby Churches Night Shelter is able to take in certain individuals who have been a real problem in other hostels and settings and for the majority of the time behave themselves and engage with us.The management team continue to talk to and meet up with other agencies in the city who work with our guests, especially around addictions and housing to see if we can help them move on.  Our prayer at the end of the night shelter is that our guests aren’t just straight back on the streets.The management team are encouraging us to hold on to Proverbs 3:27: ‘Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to act.’

Only 44 nights to go!Please continue to pray for the project, especially peace and calm as we get busier, and that for our guests we would see some significant break throughs with regard to housing, employment and addictions.