Loose Ends programmes for low income in Berkshire

Families that are on a low income can try Loose Ends for support. The drop in centre is open five days per week for people local to Berkshire. It is run in partnership with Newbury Baptist Church. While the main service available is a combination of free food and hot meals, the charity will also offer other basic needs or they can signpost the client to agencies in the Berkshire area.

The meals are served five days per week. On Monday, Tuesday, and Sunday, there is a hot lunch served. The other two days, being Wednesday and Friday there is a free hot breakfast served. Clients of the centre may be low income and struggling to feed their families, and others are homeless. Anyone from the Newbury or Berkshire County area can stop in for this service.

There is also a food bank at the Newbury Baptist Church. The meal served is to feed the hungry for that day, but in many cases, the family needs longer term support. This is where the Loose Ends Food bank can be useful.

The location has volunteers on site that will listen to the client’s needs. Based on donations made to the charity, some form of assistance will be provided. The food from the centre will contain items such as tinned meats or groceries as well as fresh fruits or vegetables. There is also other practical support given out which may be clothing or bedding. During the winter, Loose ends will try to provide warm winter coats to the vulnerable in Berkshire.

Loose Ends will also try to place clients into emergency temporary accommodation. The church has partnership with local hostels as well as shelters. In most cases, these housing sites will require the client to pay some form of fees for the accommodations.

While the short term housing is an option for the homeless, Loose Ends would rather try to prevent an eviction to begin with. Assistance is provided in partnership with the Berkshire Council as well as the centre in West Berks, which has a phone number of 1635 519588.

The assistance available for those people threatened by homelessness ranges from discretionary housing payments to legal aid. The team at Loose Ends can help the client explore these solutions. If the tenant thinks they may be eligible for this form of aid, then there is help in applying for those programmes.

Loose Ends also partners with the Two Saints housing team on providing help to the low income. They also ramp up their services during the cold winter months. Together they offer many programmes to people sleeping rough in the area. One key service is the programme known as Severe Weather Emergency Protocols.

Debt and other advice is given for free. The main topics covered by Loose Ends are as follows.

Too many people have turned to expensive loans, including payday firms, to get money to pay their bills. The advice provided by the charity can help with these types of debts. The team will help the client enter into payment plans or learn about other programmes.

As part of this service, there is budgeting advice given too. The person will learn how to better management there money. This will allow them to slowly pay down their debts. Or if someone enrolls into this Loose Change service before hand, they can get advice so they do not even need to take on debts to begin with.

The hours are five days per week, from Monday to Friday with the extra lunch served on Sunday. The team will offer all of the assistance from the centre at Morton Hall, Newbury Baptist Church, Cheap Street in Newbury.