Better Business / Member feature
The estate agents making a difference
Ocean, a Better Business member, became increasingly aware of the issue of homelessness in Bristol which prompted them to back the Safer off the Streets (SOS) campaign.
The SOS campaign aims to support Bristol’s four night shelters, which provide emergency accommodation for people experiencing homelessness in the city.
To support the cause Ocean has introduced contactless donation points to their offices in Bishopston and Southville.
The units allow the public to use their bank card or smartphone to make a £2 donation to the SOS Bristol campaign. Their donation points have raised over £2,000 so far.
Andy Norris, brand manager for Ocean commented “We are very happy to provide window space for these brilliant contact points, and we hope it will make it easy for our neighbours and all members of the community to help out a little when passing by.”
Alternatively, people can donate online via the SOS fundraiser.
The SOS campaign is being run by Bristol’s Rough Sleeping Partnership (RSP) which was set up by Bristol City Council in November 2015 to tackle the problem of street homelessness in the City.
St Mungo’s, Julian Trust, Caring in Bristol and Crisis Centre Ministries are members of the RSP and work together to run the city’s night shelters.
Each shelter provides somewhere safe and supportive to stay. Volunteers and staff work to help people find accommodation and help with health and employment issues.
The night shelter programme also includes Bristol Street Aware for local businesses and developing a ‘One City’ approach to tackling homelessness and rough sleeping.
Toby Collis, regional partnerships co-ordinator for St Mungo’s commented “Providing shelter is excellent. It acts as an area to access our further services.”
He continued “Without people like Ocean we can’t support and continue to provide services. They are key to long term interventions and we are very lucky to have the support of Andy and Ocean.”
Ocean are a Better Business member; an initiative encouraging a more collaborative approach to creating social and environmental impact. To find out more about Better Business, visit www.bristol247.com/betterbusiness.
Read More: Campaigning for a homeless day shelter in Bristol
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