The Real Change Not Loose Change campaign has raised over £60,000 since 2016 to support homeless people off the streets and connect them to the help they need in Basingstoke and Deane.
The campaign has raised money for the Basingstoke Night Light Winter Shelter, as well as the Basingstoke Time Bank and The Camrose Centre.
The Real Change for Basingstoke and Deane campaign encourages local people to help raise or give money, as an alternative to giving directly to people on the streets. You can donate money via our just giving page or consider holding a fundraising event in the community. Cake bakes and dress down days are two great ideas for raising money.
Other ways to help the homeless include volunteering your time to help out or by donating items such as food, clothing and toiletries.
Over £60,000 has been raised for homelessness charities and initiatives in the borough through the campaign, thousands of volunteer hours given and countless donations of clothes, food and toiletries collected.
This support has enabled the Night Light Winter shelter to open, offering support for the most vulnerable across four winters. It’s also allowed the Camrose Centre to open for a third day and ensured that a wet room and lockers have been provided for rough sleepers to keep their bedding safe and dry.
Working together we are all making a difference. Thank you for supporting real change.
Timeline
Thanks to thousands of pounds raised through donations a new wet room opened at The Camrose Centre and just under £14,000 of donations was raised for the Night Light Winter Night Shelter.
Over £15,565 was raised. 42 guests staying at the winter night shelter moved on to accommodation. The Camrose Day Centre continued to open for a third day every week. And Julian House can now provide storage.
Over £15,196 was raised for the Night Light Winter Night Shelter, which in December opened its doors seven days a week for 12 weeks providing overnight accommodation, meals and support to 315 people.
In 2019 thanks to the generosity of local people, the Real Change campaign was able to provide lockers for rough sleepers.
The Real Change not Loose Change campaign launched again in 2020 to raise vital funds to help people settle into a new home, by providing them with the necessities that we can take for granted.
In Basingstoke and Deane the Social Inclusion Partnership (SIP) is working together to reduce homelessness in the borough and help people move into their own accommodation.
The partnership continued to provide support to those who have moved into accommodation and this has remained the theme of the Virgin Money Making a House a Home donations platform.
A pop-up Night Light Winter Shelter provided support to 28 guests in need of a warm space, hot meals and company on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day. It also included overnight stays for five guests who were given help and advice to find long-term accommodation.
Making sure that nobody is left out in the cold, the Basingstoke and Deane Social Inclusion Partnership is continuing to work together to provide vital support.
Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council agreed to purchase May Place House. The building, at the Top of the Town, offers up to 20 emergency beds for single people at risk of homelessness, with residents referred to the service through the council’s specialist outreach service and homelessness team.
Support services for residents living at the facility are commissioned by the borough council and currently funded by Hampshire County Council. Plans are underway to carry out an extensive refurbishment of the building. This would see May Place House modernised to provide a warm and welcoming space, including accessible rooms, en-suite bathrooms, additional kitchen areas and better communal areas, as well as improved office space where individuals can get one-to-one support.
Following the signing of contracts, the council is due to take ownership of the building in spring 2026. Work to secure a specialist housing and support provider is currently underway and refurbishment work is set to start in spring.
Subject to the refurbishment work being completed, the building would then reopen by autumn 2026, with alternative accommodation and support being offered for people who become homeless while work takes place.