Our Spring Appeal this year is to ask Friends to raise £50,000 to cover food costs with the hope we can then allow The Connection to plan for the cold winter months with the food budget in place.

The Connection-at-St-Martin’s is unique within the homeless sector in offering two meals each day to the people who use its’ services, a breakfast and lunch, all of which is freshly prepared on-site and caters for all dietary requirements. The meals are made with love and care; Debbie who works in the Connection kitchen says ‘Food is so important to our clients and they deserve to have a warm home-cooked meal; if I wouldn’t feed it to my family I’m not serving it in the Centre.’ They can enjoy their meal with other diners, chat, and take their time to enjoy a meal indoors, in a comfortable and welcoming environment.

In 2023/24, the latest period for which The Connection has figures, they served 19,000 meals to the 1,300 people who attended the Centre. It is estimated these numbers will have been similar in the year just gone. The street count figures released on 1 May show rough-sleeping in Westminster has almost doubled within two years.

A hot meal is a first step for staff at The Connection in breaking down barriers and building the trust and relationships that are so important in helping people move away from a life on the streets. Having somewhere to go for that meal gives staff and clients the time and space to build those relationships. It also removes people from the streets and all that might mean for them. A visit means the Community team has time to engage and see if there are other, more immediate on-site services they can use, such as healthcare.