Third year of Clarion Housing Group’s partnership with St Mungo’s brings fundraising total to £288,000
As part of a major partnership with homelessness charity, St Mungo’s, staff at Clarion Housing Group have raised £120,000 in the past year bringing the total raised over three years to £288,000.
For more than 50 years, St Mungo’s has been at the forefront of efforts to tackle homelessness, supporting people at every step of their recovery. Each day and night, the charity’s outreach teams go out to help people sleeping rough to move away from the streets, providing a bed and vital support to thousands of people.
Clarion’s charity partnership with St Mungo’s has gone from strength to strength since it began in 2020, working together to help realise the charity’s vision of everyone having a place to call home and being able to fulfil their hopes and ambitions.
Taking fundraising to new heights
The last year saw a number of successful fundraising events take place, with the money raised helping to fund St Mungo’s Recovery College which provides an inclusive learning, training and employment service, making a real difference to people’s recovery and wellbeing.
Some Clarion staff conquered their fear of heights, abseiling down the ArcelorMittal Orbit in the Olympic Park to raise funds for St Mungo’s. Others took part in running, cycling and walking events, with 66 people covering almost 5,000 miles and raising more than £16,500. Staff also organised events including bake sales, comedy nights and raffles to raise money.
The impact of staff volunteering
As well as fundraising, many Clarion staff gave their time to help St Mungo’s during the year, generating an impressive 431 volunteer hours.
Eleven Clarion colleagues joined St Mungo’s outreach team for early morning and night shifts in London. This involved spending time walking the streets searching for people sleeping rough and offering help and support alongside a trained St Mungo’s professional. By hitting the streets together, we expanded St Mungo’s capacity to help people sleeping rough and guide them towards safe accommodation.
Eight Clarion teams spent a day volunteering their time to improve St Mungo’s accommodation. From installing flower beds to reviving greenhouses and refreshing internal communal areas, Clarion volunteers transformed these spaces and made a real difference to the people living in them.
Getting into the festive spirit, four teams also volunteered to put up decorations, cook delicious Christmas meals, and organise activities for St Mungo’s hubs.
In addition, as part of a pilot employment pathways project, Clarion provided work placements for four St Mungo’s clients helping them to develop construction skills and improve their job prospects. Following on from this, Clarion will be exploring future employment opportunities for St Mungo’s clients through Clarion Response, its in-house repairs provider.
Michelle Reynolds, Chief Customer Officer at Clarion Housing Group, said:
“After three years of working together, I’m immensely proud of what Clarion and St Mungo’s have achieved by continuing to pool knowledge and skills and work towards achieving our shared vision of everyone having a place to call home.
“Support of any kind brings us one step closer to ending homelessness for good, and I want to give my heartfelt thanks to all my colleagues for once again being so generous with their time, dynamism, and creativity, whether by volunteering for St Mungo’s or through the multitude of fundraising activities that have taken place. From bake sales to sports challenges, comedy nights to seasonal events, each has raised vital funds that directly supports the work delivered by St Mungo’s and makes a tangible difference to their clients.”
Emma Haddad, Chief Executive of St Mungo’s, said:
“Our partnership with Clarion is a fantastic example of what can be achieved when we work together, and we are delighted to mark three successful years. As a housing association, Clarion is well positioned to understand our vital work, and we are so grateful for all the support from colleagues through skilled volunteering, sharing expertise pro bono, as well as taking on challenges to fundraise for St Mungo's life-changing Recovery College year-on-year, ensuring St Mungo's can provide vital learning, training and employment support to our clients. Thank you so much to all of the Clarion colleagues who have dedicated their time to supporting our mission to end homelessness and rebuild lives.”