(L-R) Rosie Duffield of Labour with our CEO Tasmin Maitland and Louise Harvey Quirke of the Conservatives
Parliamentary candidates for the Canterbury seat have been visiting Catching Lives ahead of the General Election in July. This week, five candidates heard from our CEO Tasmin Maitland about rising rough sleeping in Canterbury and the challenges faced by the people we support.
Henry Stanton from the Green Party and Rosie Duffield from the Labour Party visited the Day Centre in Station Road East on Monday. They visited during an Arts and Crafts session. Henry had a tour of the centre and Rosie saw the improvements we've made to client facilities since her last visit.
Henry Stanton said: "Visiting Catching Lives today was a truly inspiring and impressive experience. The work they are doing, without direct government funding and staffed by a lot of volunteers, is essential and frequently life changing. The clear message was that demand for their services is continuing to increase, due largely to the cost of living increase but also due to cuts to mental health, social care and housing services."
Rosie Duffield said: “I really enjoyed my visit to Catching Lives this week and am incredibly proud of the amazing work they do to help and support homeless people in our community. I was also very impressed with their new upgraded facilities which I know will be welcomed by all who use their services, as well as staff. I work regularly with Catching Lives and do what I can to help their clients with housing issues, but I know how much the demand for their services has increased in recent years due to austerity measures and the cost of living crisis. Thank you to everyone at Catching Lives for being such a valuable asset to the Canterbury community and, if re-elected, I look forward to continuing to support them."
Luke Buchanan-Hodgman from the Social Democrat Party visited on Tuesday.
He said: “I was truly heartened to be permitted some insight into your tireless efforts at Catching Lives and the profound impact you're making in the community. The dedication of the staff and volunteers to supporting the homeless is incredibly inspiring and has made me question whether we could all do more to help. I really hope to be in a position to support your mission in the future. And a plea to other Canterbury residents: please use the amazing Catching Lives charity bookshop on Palace Street.”
On Thursday, we had visits from Bridget Porter from Reform UK and Louise Harvey-Quirke from the Conservative Party. The visits took place during a Nervous Drawing session and they had a tour of the Day Centre.
Tasmin Maitland, Chief Executive of Catching Lives, said: “We have invited all the Parliamentary candidates to visit our centre and find out about the realities facing people experiencing homelessness. We are asking that the new Government makes housing and homelessness a priority, including a cross-departmental strategy to end homelessness.”
Earlier this week, Catching Lives signed Homeless Link’s letter to Rishi Sunak, Sir Keir Starmer and Sir Ed Davey, urging them to take decisive action to bring down levels of homelessness and rough sleeping should they lead the next Government.
The letter calls for the next Government to enact Homeless Link's four key asks, as laid out in its Manifesto to End Homelessness.
Comments