Harradines sponsor local charity – ‘Street Souls’
As a family run business, Harradines value the importance of engaging with the local community and supporting local charities.
As part of our commitment, we financially sponsor and promote a local charity called ‘Street Souls’ who provide essential items to the homeless throughout London, including:
- Sleeping bags
- Clothing
- Dental and washing materials
- Balanced hot meals
- Water
- Coffee
- Hot chocolate
- Soup
- Orange juice
The charity has recently unveiled its new ‘Artful Pelican’ Gallery at 143 Lee Rd, Lee, SE3 9DJ, which gives budding artists the confidence to pursue their passion by providing “a platform for the homeless and/or vulnerable artists to display and sell their work”.
Our donation goes directly towards the running costs of this Gallery, ensuring all sales will inure directly to the benefit of the homeless.
Take a look here to see some of the inspiring works produced!
Who are Street Souls?
The story behind Street Souls began in 2007 when a London family opted against buying each other Christmas presents that year, but instead purchased approximately 100 sleeping bags to give to a homeless charity. With the aim of making life a little better for the homeless throughout the city, this family took to the streets of London again the following year to distribute essential items, such as sleeping bags, ingredients to make sandwiches and cups of soups.
Relying solely on the generosity of the public and local businesses, the charity has flourished in the past 8 years, as it provides:
- A committed team of volunteers
- An efficient distribution system
- Something for those on the streets of London to look forward to
The charity is dedicated to providing a punctual, reliable service, operating at least twice a month on the first and third Friday, with the occasional extra date added in. For the past year, their distribution point has been based at Christchurch Gardens, (close to New Scotland Yard, between Caxton Street and Victoria Street), so it’s easily accessible to those in need of support.
Homelessness is a huge problem in London, as official figures show that the number of people sleeping rough in the city has increased by 79% in the past 5 years. This stresses the importance of charities such as Street Souls, as they can provide help, comfort and compassion to those who have found themselves living on the street.
Here at Harradines, we are proud to lend a helping hand to such a dynamic charity which works tirelessly to provide warmth, food and drink to their friends on the street.