Film legend helps Harrogate Homeless Project

Making an exclusive appearance for the Harrogate Film Festival, the legendary director will appear at the Wesley Centre, Oxford Street, on Monday, March 9, taking part in an audience Q&A after a screening of his latest film, Sorry We Missed You.

The appearance, secured by Harrogate-agency Cause UK, will see a proportion of ticket sales donated to the Harrogate Homeless Project.

Clair Challenor-Chadwick, managing director of Cause UK, said: “From his ground-breaking dramas of the sixties to this latest film, Loach has always championed the disadvantaged and we strongly felt this event should benefit a local charity. We know that the Wesley Centre works closely with the Homeless Project so it was the perfect choice.”

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Liz Hancock, chief executive of Harrogate Homeless Project, said: “We are very excited about this event and the chance to raise funds for our work. There are many reasons why people become homeless.

"HHP is here to make sure that nobody has to sleep rough in Harrogate and to build a level of trust that will encourage homeless adults toward a life off the streets.

“Demand for our services builds year-on-year and the average occupancy in our 16-bed hostel is around 98%. In the last three months of 2019, there were some 1500 meals served at our day centre.”

Wesley Centre Manager, Pippa French, said: “It’s a great honour to have Ken Loach visit Wesley and to have our first screening on behalf of the Harrogate Film Festival.

"The fact that our audience will be encouraged to donate to the Homeless Project chimes as it operates from our premises and was established by members of the Wesley Chapel congregation some 30 years ago. We also feel Ken Loach will be sympathetic to its cause.”

Factfile: Harrogate Homeless Project

Between 1st October 2019-31st December 2019, the Harrogate Homeless Project:

Received 163 referrals for emergency accommodation.

Average occupancy in the 16-bed hostel was 98%

6 people moved out of our hostel onto their next accommodation:

There were 2135 visits to our day centre, where 1468 meals were served, 78 loads of washing were washed and dried and 112 showers were taken.

Weekly GP clinics at the Springboard day centre were attended by an average of 10 people per week who would not have otherwise accessed medical support.

Other regular sessions run at the Springboard day centre include; Pilates, podiatry, haircuts, Samaritans, vet drop-in sessions run by Street Paws and a monthly Housing Options Drop-In run by Harrogate Borough Council.

This is in addition to the day to day support provided by our staff on housing, benefits and other general issues.

HHP also employ a psychotherapist who is available to provide one to one therapy for clients. This is essential as often people who are experiencing homeless require therapy but waiting lists and referral procedures are often a barrier to accessing this.

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