Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

A very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from the Thakeham Family.

At Thakeham we are proud to partner with many local organisations and charities, who share our community ethos and traditional values. We would like to take this opportunity to speak about Crawley Open House and the incredible work they do, and what you can do to help.

Crawley Open House

Crawley Open House provides support for those suffering the effects of homelessness, unemployment, loneliness, discrimination, or other forms of social exclusion. Their life-changing work is so important for many people.

They began their journey in 1982, opening a small community resource centre in Crawley. Now they operate a day-centre and a 26 bed hostel, providing 28 day stays for residents, offering a safe and welcoming space. Visitors can access hot food and a listening ear from skilled advice, health and resettlement teams.

Each and every night 57 local men and women call Crawley Open House home, staying in the hostel or one of the 6 ‘move-on houses’.

Getting Involved

Running the facilities at Crawley Open House relies upon the kindness and dedication of volunteers, donors and fundraisers. When COVID restrictions were put in place, food bank donations ground to a halt and corporate collections could not take place with empty offices.

When we heard that stocks were low at Crawley Open House, the Thakeham family came together to gather the supplies they needed.

We set up collection points at our flagship site at Woodgate in Pease Pottage, and our Head Office in Billingshurst, collecting food and resources from our staff, partners and residents. We were proud to have donated 284 items to the shelter.

There are so many ways to get involved in the work of this fantastic charity.

Operation Santa

As part of their annual ‘Operation Santa‘ appeal, Crawley Open House will once again be running their ‘reverse advent calendar’. Every day, instead of taking something out of an Advent Calendar, you put an item into a box, to help the homeless or disadvantaged. You can then drop the box off at Crawley Open House, to support their outreach programmes.

To find out more and get involved with Operation Santa, CLICK HERE.

If you would like to donate, CLICK HERE.

A very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all,

from everyone at Thakeham.