FUNDRAISERS who have contributed to a Christmas Match Fund to help rough sleepers in Oxford have raised £140,000.
The amount is just short of the organisers’ ambitious target of £150,000 but exceeds the figure raised last year - about £90,000.
Oxford Homeless Movement, a partnership of many organisations working to combat rough sleeping, ran the match fund to raise money for homelessness agencies, and to deliver new services tackling homelessness.
The fund was launched on December 1 and ran until yesterday.
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Oxfordshire Community Foundation pledged to match any donation to Oxford Homeless Movement.
Jane Cranston, the movement’s chairwoman, said: “I’m delighted that we’ve so nearly reached our target of raising £150,000 for homelessness charities and new services in Oxford.
“Everybody can do something to help and I feel humbled by the generosity of the people, businesses and trusts who have contributed – thank you all so much!
“We want 2020 to be the year that Oxford comes together to help ensure nobody should have to sleep rough on the streets of our city.
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“The money so generously given to the Christmas Match Fund will help make a vital difference in achieving that goal.”
For the second year running the Oxford Mail backed the match fund.
Editor Samantha Harman said: “I’m over the moon the Christmas Match Fund has been such a success this year.
“People really got behind the campaign and I know the money raised will now be put to good use by the various homelessness agencies that are working hard together to tackle this problem.
“I’m sure the Oxford Homeless Movement would agree that this is no time for complacency as unfortunately the issue of rough sleeping in Oxford is not going to go away overnight.
“Hopefully people will keep making donations to help the homeless throughout 2020.”
The money raised will now be divided between homelessness charities in Oxford, a new homeless shelter in Floyds Row off St Aldate’s which opens this month, and a new impact fund which will support the development of new services where there are gaps in existing provision.
Employment charity Aspire Oxford is one of the homelessness charities which will benefit from the match funding.
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Head of fundraising Helen Mariner said: “We are absolutely delighted by the success of the Christmas Match Fund and want to thank everyone who has given so generously.
“The funds raised will ensure that Aspire can continue to support people affected by homelessness and poverty into employment and housing.
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"We’ll be able to protect people from becoming homeless in the first place through our homelessness prevention programme and will provide long-term, specialist employment support to help vulnerable people break the cycle of homelessness, for good.
"The demand for Aspire’s services increased by 46 per cent in 2019 from the year before.”
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