New Hope Holiday

Some of you may know that each year our Community Home residents (accompanied by staff and volunteers) go on holiday to Cornwall. Well, this summer Annette Davis (project worker at New Hope House) had the brilliant idea to take the New Hope House residents on a three-day camping weekend!

Annette approached The Outdoor Group at Soul Survivor, who enable low-income families in the church’s congregation to go camping. Tony Joyce, who runs the Outdoor Group, wanted to extend their services to the wider community and was glad of the opportunity to do so for the first time. They provided New Hope House with the equipment they needed, and Tony and his wife volunteered over the entire weekend to help staff the holiday.

Tony suggested Annette contact the Faith Works Trust, which runs a Christian retreat in Berkhamsted. They had a heart for people from disadvantaged backgrounds and let out the site to New Hope House for free!

The holiday was hugely beneficial for the residents, particularly one who was suffering a recent bereavement. During the weekend the residents grew closer together and new friendships were formed, all of which is vital for recovery from homelessness. One resident said,

‘Thanks for opening my eyes again. It’s been a great weekend – thank you so much.’

The trip was only possible through the generosity of local organisations and was completely cost free for us, thanks to them! As well as The Outdoor Group and Faith Works Trust, we would also like to thank Watford & District YMCA for lending us their mini-bus free of charge and Costco for donating all the food needed for the weekend. This is in addition to Costco’s on-going support through giving food on an almost daily basis, enabling us to significantly cut our food bill.