On 14th June 2022, the Government anounced that it will end Friday prison releases to prevent the race against the clock that is faced by many prisoners released on a Friday. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/end-to-friday-releases-to-cut-crime-and-make-streets-safer We are delighted to hear about this announcement as many of our clients have struggled with this issue for years. They are released...

Our bookshop in Canterbury occupies one of the most photographed buildings in Canterbury, unusual because of its crooked appearance, it is thought to have inspired Charles Dickens’ novel, David Copperfield. The large windows are almost unheard of in this age of building due to the window tax that came in during the late 1600’s, however...

Catching Lives has kindly been offered a piece of farmland for the next five years, which will be used to grow produce for our kitchen at the Catching Lives Open Centre, where our team of volunteers cook meals for the homeless and vulnerably housed of Canterbury and East Kent on a daily basis.  We will...

A brand new year is upon us and we hope you had a restful and enjoyable Christmas. A wide variety of events and fundraisers were run for us over the Christmas period, organised by lovely people, taking time out of their own festivities to support us. We are so grateful to everyone that has raised...

As you may know, our Winter Shelter runs every year between December and February to provide warm accommodation to the homeless of Canterbury. This year, we had planned to proceed with our shelter as we would normally, with a church-based shelter available for up to 20 people. However, the recent Covid variant, Omicron put pay...

September has flown by as fast as the weather has changed and as we head towards World Homeless Day, we cannot leave September behind without saying a huge Thank You to everyone that has organised a Harvest event and donated items and money to us over the past month. Our Harvest campaign is continuing to...

As we head towards the Autumn season, the cooler weather is starting to bring out the umbrellas, jumpers and socks – everything we need to stay dry and warm on our trips out of the house. With Autumn just a few short weeks away, only the most seasoned campers are still braving their sleeping bags...

On 28th July 2021 the Government unveiled their Beating Crime Plan which included measures to prevent prison leavers returning to the street and reoffending. These will include:• Basic, temporary accommodation provided to keep prison leavers off streets to stop reoffending• Extra investment in drug and alcohol treatment to rehabilitate offenders Catching Lives are always pleased...

We’re excited to be going on the road from Wednesday 9th June, to two different locations around Kent on a weekly basis. Our wonderful volunteers will continue to run the day centre, providing our normal facilities and in addition, we will be taking a minibus to Whitstable on a Wednesday and Herne Bay on a...