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Lancaster District Homeless Action Service (LDHAS) will be spending its last Christmas at its Edward Street home this year.

If all goes to plan, LDHAS hopes to move into its new centre in Aalborg Place by the end of March.

In the meantime, its annual Christmas fundraising appeal is under way with donations welcome in person or online at justgiving.com/ldhas

LDHAS also has a separate appeal running online until December 20 to help towards the cost of its new centre https://www.avivacommunityfund.co.uk/p/homelesshub

This will be the last Christmas LDHAS spends at the Edward Street centre.

Christmas donations account for a quarter of the charity’s annual income and last year’s appeal was its best ever, raising £55,000, including generous support from local churches.

In years past, St Thomas’s Church used to open its Marton Street centre for homeless people to stay over Christmas but since the Covid pandemic, charities have been unable to provide overnight shelter for street homeless people.

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However, LDHAS will be supplying Christmas and Boxing Day meals for about 15 homeless people at Edward Street from 11am-1pm and takeaway festive treats will be available to those who the centre isn’t big enough to accommodate.

The charity already has enough volunteers to help out on Christmas and Boxing Days and requires just one more for New Year’s Day.

The Edward Street Centre will be open its normal hours between Christmas and New Year.

“We have noticed it getting busier over the past few weeks and about a fortnight ago we had our busiest day since Covid, with about 21 clients through the doors when normally we would see between 10-15,” said David Bristow, finance administrator.

In 2022/23, LDHAS supported 136 people and had a footfall of 2,657.

“Recently, we’ve had calls from people who’ve never been homeless before or are panicking because they’re losing their tenancy or they can’t pay the bills so we’ve seen a few new faces and even some refugees.”

As well as the Christmas appeal, LDHAS is always in need of food donations and also requires men’s jeans and trainers.

The Edward Street Centre is open Monday-Friday, 9am-1pm. For more information on supporting LDHAS, visit ldhas.org.uk, phone 01524 842008 or email [email protected]

Lancaster's homeless centre launches fundraising campaign as it prepares for a busy Christmas

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