News

Golding Homes has raised an impressive £5,061 for Kent’s leading homelessness charity, Porchlight.

Golding Homes colleagues voted for Porchlight to be its Charity of the Year in April 2020, but due to the pandemic this was extended for another year.

Fundraising efforts included staff quizzes, raffles, a ‘go purple for Porchlight’ day where colleagues wore purple to work, donations via a Just Giving page, a dragon boat race and one colleague even participating in the London Marathon.

Assistant Director of Property at Golding Homes, Steve Stratford, took part in the virtual London Marathon in October 2020 after the official event was cancelled due to the pandemic. He completed a 26.2-mile course in 3 hours and 50 minutes.

Porchlight works with some of the most vulnerable people in Kent. Some are homeless and need help accessing safe and secure accommodation, others are struggling to keep a roof over their head and require support with their housing, mental health and employment-related issues.

The money raised will help pay for increased operator capacity for the charity’s helpline, emergency food and medicine for someone’s first night off the street and Rough Sleep Workers to help find homes for people in crisis.

Tom Casey, Director of Development and Sales, said: “I’m delighted we’ve reached our target to raise £5,000 for Porchlight despite the effects of the pandemic; it’s been wonderful to see so many colleagues taking part in activities and challenges to raise money for such a worthwhile cause.

“Porchlight does fantastic work for some of the most vulnerable people in our communities, and I hope this money will make a real difference.”

Kate Boulding, Corporate Partnerships Manager at Porchlight, said: “Thank you so much to everyone at Golding Homes for supporting Porchlight, especially through such a challenging time. The cost of living is rising at a dramatic rate, we’re already hearing from an increasing number of people who can’t afford to feed themselves and are bracing ourselves for a rise in callers unable to cover their food and energy bills and pay rent, while we’re also facing funding cuts to some of our services.

“Support from local organisations and individuals is vital for us to continue our work for the homeless and vulnerable in Kent. We really appreciate Golding’s efforts in fundraising for us and hope we can work together again in the not-too-distant future.”

From April 2022, Golding Homes will be supporting Maidstone’s Tommy’s Rainbow Trust as its next Charity of the Year. Tommy’s Rainbow Trust offers support to people with mental health problems and aims to bridge the gap between various health services to make sure people can access the help they need when they need it most.