At Genesis Life Projects the demand for our services is growing, with local homeless and vulnerable people accessing a wider range of services and staying with us for longer. Can you help us keep up with demand this spring?

By giving to this appeal online, your donation will be doubled thanks to Aviva Community Fund via Crowdfunder. They are matching every donation up to £250 per unique supporter given by 9^th June 2024.

Numbers are rising

Paul Solly, our Lifeline Manager says, “We are continuing to be busier than we were pre-Covid, seeing more people who are homeless or living with complex mental health issues.”

Paul and the team are seeing many people facing crisis, needing support with housing, mental ill-health, addiction or low income.

People like Jim (photographed below), who was assaulted near his boat and suffered a brain injury. He has since had to re-learn how to walk. We have worked intensively with him to help him recognise and accept that living on a boat was not viable following the assault. We are delighted that he has now been housed locally and one of our volunteers has been working with him to help with budgeting and paying bills.

People are accessing a wider range of services

We are finding that clients like Jim are engaging with more than one of our services.

Jim’s next step was to attend our SMART Recovery group for people with active addictions. He struggled with dependent drinking but is now rarely drinking and making great progress.

Matt Prescott, who runs SMART Recovery says, “It has been amazing to see people [like Jim] recognising over time that others understand how they feel and that the answers they are searching for are within themselves. SMART Recovery encourages people to take responsibility for themselves and their actions and to work towards positive change.”

Laura* has also been part of SMART Recovery and has previously attended other courses we offer. Her accompanying one-to-one sessions with Matt have helped her recognise the disruptive nature of her addiction. Matt says, “We have been doing a creative project together, during which time Laura will open up to me about her addiction in a way she struggles to in other circumstances. We’ve identified that a trigger for her is boredom, so we’ve come up with a timetable of activities she can get involved with across the city. It’s been good to see her have confidence to attend activities outside of Genesis.”

People are staying for longer

Genesis Life Projects Manager Sue Fourie says, “We’ve seen an increase in the social use of Genesis Life Projects. Clients are staying for longer to share meals, play games together, or join drop-in knitting sessions. It has attracted people who have been hard to engage with and has become important in building trust with them.”

Laura and Jim both regularly come for meals and Laura enjoys the knitting group too. Genesis Life Projects is a space for crisis support but also for friendship, building people’s confidence in themselves, their sense of purpose and community engagement.

 

 

Please support us and make double the difference

Genesis Life Project offers a long-term holistic approach which supports people like Jim and Laura through their crisis and then journeys with them toward a better future.

Matt says, “It is very important to me and the team that our clients feel they can access our support and appreciate it can look different for each person. We strive to continually make our services accessible and person-centered and recognise that hurt and trauma are often behind people’s struggles.”

Please will you help us keep up with demand this spring and get your donation doubled? All donations up to £250 per unique supporter given by 9^th June 2024 will be matched by Aviva Community Fund via Crowdfunder.

Together we can continue to provide much needed support for local people as they journey toward positive change and a better future.

Thank you,

Paul, Matt and Sue

Genesis Life Projects

*Names have been changed to protect their identity and respect their privacy.