HELPING THE HOMELESS
A sense of Accomplishment
At SKILLS Ltd, we believe that being human is as important being in business, breathing air and more importantly being happy with our lives. That is why we aim to support as many people outside of our business hours as possible, ensuring that every person has an opportunity to make their lives better.
We are happy to take any donations from the general public for this great cause and if you are able to volunteer some of your time to support us then you can do so by enquiring about it by phone or email.
What to Give
Remember, when you see someone begging in the streets, that not everyone who begs is actually homeless.
In many cases, it’s much more helpful to donate food, clothes and other useful items, instead of money. In addition to this, care packages containing a few essential, low-cost items are a great way of helping the homeless. Below is a list of items to consider giving:
Food & Drink
Water bottle or a soft drink
Canned food with pull tabs that can be eaten cold, such as tinned fruit or tuna
Crackers
Peanut butter
Cereal or granola bars
Cheese
Mints
Tea or coffee or another hot drink
Pet food
You could also consider donating a gift card for a food shop or café. This way, they can choose the meal they fancy the most, and even escape from the elements for a short while.
Toiletries
Wipes
Alcohol hand sanitizer
Tissues
Feminine hygiene products
Toothbrush and toothpaste
Dental floss
Nail clippers
Plasters
Lip balm
Comb or brush
Deodorant
Hand lotion
Other Useful Items
Blankets
Sleeping bags
Rucksacks
Cups
Utensils
Books
An encouraging personalized note
Helping the homeless with a package made up of some of the above items is a great way to show you care, though bear in mind that the essentials required by a homeless person vary from place to place and season to season. For example, in the winter, great items to give are gloves, hats and heat packs, as well as a decent jacket or even a sleeping bag. However, the summer heat means that summer essentials include sun cream, a sun hat, or perhaps a frozen bottle of water to help protect from the sun and cool down.
VOLUNTEERING
“Activity which involves spending time, unpaid, doing something that aims to benefit the environment or someone other than, or in addition to, close relatives. Central to this definition is the fact that volunteering must be a choice freely made by each individual.”
At SKILLS Ltd, we believe in the power of volunteering to transform lives. Our projects focus not on the hugely valuable work that is done by volunteers in their communities, but on the impact volunteering has on the individual who volunteers.
As a business focused on the power of people, it is important for us to differentiate between volunteering and work experience.
But why do we do it? For many, it will be driven by the needs of those around them, or maybe the feel-good factor of doing things for others.
Here are seven reasons to find a volunteering experience which suits your needs:
Gaining employability skills - The most obvious advantage is the opportunity to learn new occupational skills and get new experiences which will help our employability. However, a volunteering role does not have to be related to our chosen career path – volunteering has been shown to help the development of critical workplace skills, including communication, leadership, delegation and problem solving.
Improving overall health - engaging in volunteering can increase longevity, improve mental health, keep people fitter, and enable them to cope better with illness when it occurs.
Reducing stress - 78% of people surveyed in the US who had volunteered in the previous 12 months said that volunteering had improved their mood and lowered their stress levels.
Supporting personal development - Building self-esteem and confidence are frequently referred to, as are experiencing a sense of achievement and personal satisfaction from being a part of something meaningful, helping others, and seeing the positive results of the work carried out.
Increasing happiness - Researchers at the London School of Economics examined the relationship between volunteering and measures of happiness in a large group of adults. They found the more people volunteered, the happier they were.
Making friends and expanding networks - Volunteering can provide an opportunity to make friends with people from different backgrounds and cultures and help to build understanding and community cohesion.
Strengthening communities - By bringing people together from different parts of the community, volunteering has been shown to bring about a greater awareness in people of the issues faced by their community or society more generally, and develop a greater sense of belonging.
FUNDRAISING & GIFT AID
SKILLS Ltd has forged a link with HOPE AID, who has grown the need to support people from across the world with generous donations. Through the work of HOPE AID, SKILLS Ltd has been able to co-sponsor charity car washes where all proceeds collected have been used for people in need.
In an effort to promote this further, SKILLS Ltd is promoting the need to support with donations to support people in a variety of crisis, not limited to homelessness, alcohol/drug addiction, and poverty crisis we have in our areas.
In order to ensure that we receive your contribution, please make sure that you call SKILLS Ltd on 0121 440 2967, we will then provide you with the account details and paying in reference number to use when depositing the money, which will allow us to identify that the payment is from you.
Please note that without a paying in reference number we are unable to send an acknowledgement letter/email to you.
All contributions are acknowledged on social media platforms.