This Christmas has been nothing short of extraordinary here at The Basement Project. We have been truly overwhelmed by the incredible support from our local community. Throughout December, our phone didn’t stop ringing, and our doorbell constantly buzzed with kind-hearted individuals eager to donate to our Christmas Campaign and food bank.
Thanks to this generosity, we exceeded our Campaign target and raised an astounding £10,862! Special recognition must go to Music for Sanctuary and the Bromsgrove Santa Sleigh, whose fundraising efforts contributed £2,000 each to this amazing total.
The funds raised will make a significant difference, potentially covering over 360 hours of support for local young people at risk of homelessness. This will have a profound impact on the services we provide going forward.
The generosity extended far beyond monetary donations. Thanks to the incredible contributions to our food bank, we were able to distribute 84 food parcels, each including toiletry bags, and a further 39 goody bags to young people in need. We are especially grateful to the team from The National Lottery, who worked tirelessly to assemble many of these packs, and to our dedicated volunteers who sorted the donations as they came in.
But it didn’t stop there. Knowing that many of our clients have young children, we were also delighted to provide 31 children with bags of Christmas gifts. Special thanks go to Butcher’s Block, PureGym, and Berries Bunnies for donating the presents, and to AFH Wealth Management for beautifully wrapping them.
We cannot thank everyone enough—individuals, businesses, schools, and organisations—who supported us this Christmas. Your generosity ensures that we can continue to support young people facing homelessness throughout 2025 and beyond.
Honouring Sheila Collins with “Sheila’s Room”
Amidst the Christmas festivities, we held a deeply meaningful event in memory of Sheila Collins, one of the founding trustees of The Basement Project, who sadly passed away last year. In her honour, our Drop-In Centre has been renamed “Sheila’s Room.”
At our Volunteers and Trustees Christmas Brunch, we were privileged to welcome Sheila’s husband, Peter, and her daughters, Pippa and Rachel, to officially cut the ribbon on the newly named room. It was a poignant moment as we reflected on Sheila’s remarkable legacy and her unwavering commitment to our cause.
Sheila was a visionary and a driving force behind The Basement Project. Her close ties to the community and dedication to supporting young people led her to recognise the pressing need for housing support for those under 25. Thanks to her passion and determination, our charity was born. Without her vision, The Basement Project simply would not exist as it does today.
As we step into 2025, we carry Sheila’s memory in our hearts and strive to honour her legacy by continuing to provide holistic, person-centred services for local young people in crisis.
From all of us at The Basement Project, thank you for making this Christmas so special. Here’s to another year of making a difference together.