Our Community
COMMUNITY IMPACT
Working with our community to improve people's lives
Catching Lives is a local charity that has been operating in Canterbury and East Kent since 2010. We support people who are homeless or insecurely housed in the region. As an independent, grassroots charity our strong community links are a vital part of achieving our mission.
We help the people using our services to improve their lives, drawing on the support of all sections of our community in doing so - as partners, volunteers, donors and champions. We want to change attitudes and reduce stigma by talking about the issues surrounding homelessness - issues that, in an ongoing cost of living crisis, have the potential to affect us all. We also use our skills and expertise to collaborate with other charities and public services to benefit the people we support and the community to which we all belong.
At the Heart of the Community
We work with University of Kent and Canterbury Christ Church University to host students placements. We deliver talks about Catching Lives and homelessness to schools and community groups. We deliver tailored training on a variety of subjects, welcome all kinds of volunteers, talk to church groups and congregations; and we want to do much more. If you're looking for a speaker, get in touch!
Since first running the Canterbury Community Shelter with the involvement of church communities in and around Canterbury, we have been lucky to work with an incredible mixture of local individuals and organisations across voluntary, statutory, faith and community sectors. By drawing on the resources of the wider community, we can continue our work in the years to come, so that people facing homelessness can access our services in their time of need. For winter 2024-25, we are working with Shelter hosts Canterbury Cathedral, St Paul's, Canterbury Baptist Church, St Peter's Methodist, St Dunstan's, St Thomas of Canterbury, St Mary Bredin and Canterbury Umbrella.
Community Partners
We are grateful for the support of Canterbury Cathedral, whose regular funding helps Catching Lives to serve breakfast and a hot, nutritious lunch every day of the year. Canterbury Cathedral is a host venue for the Canterbury Community Shelter this winter.
