If you’re a young hero you could take part in the 500m MINI-DASH!

Please register yourself at: http://www.heroesrun.org.uk/content/runbrighton

Once registered if you email susan.lodge@offthefence.org.uk to let us know and receive a fundraising pack.

Having said bon voyage to manager Adele Waller in January we are very happy to welcome her back at the start of this term. Adele took the opportunity for an extended period of leave and has been travelling with her husband Nick since January.  They have had a wonderful time exploring a number of countries and have many stories to tell of their time away!

Off The Fence would like to offer congratulations to the Schools Team’s Rich Jago who got married on Easter Saturday! We wish him and Caroline all the best as they start married life together.

And this month we say goodbye to Sara Emerson who has been working for the Schools Team for the last year. We will miss the laughter and common sense she brings to the team! However Sara isn’t going far – she will continue her good work at Project Antifreeze, our loss is their gain!

The day proved to be a great success and many of the women brought along family and friends to see the work they had created.  The day was open to Off The Fence supporters, funders and the general public, and we had 100 guests and visitors come into the Centre, to enjoy the exhibition and the open air Retro Café which was festooned with bunting and bursting at the seams with cake, generously donated from OTF staff, friends & City Gate Church. As a result we were able to raise £186.00 for  Gateway Women’s Centre and more importantly,  the women received great encouragement for the work they exhibited.

As last year, Off The Fence, alongside The Worthing Homeless Project, were given the opportunity to collect the outer layers of clothing discarded by the runners. We collected a whopping 47 sacks of jumpers, sweat shirts and tracksuit bottoms which are currently keeping our washing machine very busy! We are so grateful for this significant gift which will keep our clients well clothed in the coming months.

If you would like to run the 2013 Brighton Marathon for Off The Fence contact susan.lodge@offthefence.org.uk

With input from Richard and Sara from The Schools Team this club has grown over the last year from seeing a handful of students in the Autumn term to now welcoming up to 15 weekly.  Students seem to love the relaxed atmosphere. Several of the school staff who have popped in have said that they think it’s a great initiative and that for many of the pupils who come along, it is an oasis in their timetables.

We first found Steve sleeping rough outside Hove Town Hall on the 26 August 2011. We gave him a street sheet explaining all the agencies he could work with in Brighton.

Working with us and First Base Steve was able to get some help after 5 months of sleeping rough. He accessed our drop in almost daily and was always a joy to have in our centre. He was also a great help cleaning and washing up at the end of each day.

He has a local connection and because of his low support needs he was able to access some BHT housing called “Accommodation to work” He moved in on 20 January, having met our night outreach team for the last time on the 19^th.

As part of his back to work program he is volunteering for Fare Share Brighton. It’s great to see Steve most weeks delivering food back to the centres that where only a few month ago helping him. Steve says:  “Its good to be returning the favour…”

We wish Steve all the best for the future and finding employment.

I can hardly believe that a year has passed by since we opened Gateway Women’s Centre!  The vision has been to be able to provide a sanctuary where women are able to come to receive emotional support. Women can now access support and advice at our drop-in on a Wednesday and Thursday. Alternatively they can take part in one of our art workshops, use the the internet café  or just pop in for a  coffee and a chat.

Join us on Saturday for a celebration of one year of Project Gateway! From 11am – 4pm we’ll be showcasing work created at our Women’s Centre together with work from local artists.  We’ll also be enjoying tasty treats from our very own ‘Retro Cafe’!

2011 was spectacular in growth and impact, it is impossible to calculate the impact of our Charity. We started in 1997 a tiny little project, with amazement and thankfulness we celebrated having had 2.5 million pounds go through our bank account over the years and straight out to the most at need in our City.  Never in the history of Off The Fence have our services been so needed.  Recession has increased the number of homeless in Brighton & Hove by 40% in the last year. The new government legislation on the capping of housing benefit will mean that 700 more families face eviction within this city alone.

Would you consider doing something spectacular by giving a gift towards the capital appeal? Every penny counts! Your support in the past has allowed us to help thousands of people, into the Antifreeze Homeless Centre. Last year alone we had over 7400 visitors and our night outreach met with over 1600 homeless.

We are very grateful for your support, prayers and partnership over the years, please help us to do something long term that will be extra ordinary!

Donate to Capital Appeal 2012

On a Friday we head into Cardinal Newman Catholic School for ‘Pink’, a club for year 7 girls. As break time starts the room begins to fill with around 15 chatty girls who help themselves to some hot chocolate and take a seat.  Over the next 30 minutes we play a game, watch a DVD clip and tell a Bible story to help the girls see what it means to be a Christian. Recently we’ve looked at topics such as; how do I pray? Is it ok to be angry? Why read the Bible?

Pink Club has been running for several years now at Cardinal Newman School, but has seen some changes over recent months.  The same girls we see first break return for more ‘Pink’ club in second break where we have just started using arts and crafts to create something which helps us think  about and express the topic introduced in the first break! [Pictured: S.T.O.P. prayers; the girls wrote prayers under the titles: Sorry, Thank you, Others, Please.]

When asked what they thought about ‘Pink’ one girl said “It’s epic and fun, you have snacks and you learn about Jesus!” another said “I feel safe at ‘Pink’ club.”

In 2011 Project Antifreeze handed out 555 sleeping bags totalling a cost of £6000!

368 of the bags handed out last year were given to first time rough sleepers. 49 people were in need of up to 3 sleeping bags last year due to prolonged rough sleeping periods. Those who have spent a long time rough sleeping are known as ‘entrenched rough sleepers’.

In the summer we can hand out bags that are lightweight and only cost £6 each, but in the winter we buy heavy duty sleeping bags to keep people warm in severe weather as cold as -19 degrees! Winter sleeping bags cost approximately £15 each.

We are very excited about our latest order, shown in the picture, this was a large order of 216 bags made up of summer and winter weight bags!

We would like to give a very special thank you to Bishop Hannington Church and Sheddingdean Baptist Church who had special collections for us at Christmas raising a total of £3000 between them! These very generous donations were able to pay for this large order which will hopefully last us till June.

We would also like to thank AMG – Vango for providing sleeping bags to us at such an amazing price!