St Mungo’s and Clarion Housing Group partnership raises over £50,000 for Covid-19 response

Clarion Housing Group has raised more than £50,000 for leading homelessness charity St Mungo’s, marking a successful first year of a three-year fundraising partnership.

Despite limitations on fundraising due to the pandemic, Clarion staff have found creative ways to bring in urgently needed donations, including a sponsored abseil from London’s ArcelorMittal Orbit, and supporting our teams to distribute food boxes across the capital.

Last year, Clarion gave a generous £20,000 donation to kick-start the partnership, which enabled St Mungo’s to provide digital devices for clients who were safely self-isolating in one of our 27 emergency response hotels across London, the South East and the South West. For these clients, technology became a lifeline to access vital services and stay connected.

Over the next two years, Clarion will support St Mungo’s efforts to provide sustainable and affordable long-term accommodation to people experiencing homelessness by investing in programmes like Housing First, which ensure there is tailored support available to help vulnerable people to successfully maintain their tenancies.

St Mungo’s have also delivered HomelessWise training to over 300 Clarion frontline staff, giving them confidence and knowledge to offer practical and compassionate support to people rough sleeping, as well as those affected by homelessness living in their properties.

Rebecca Sycamore, Executive Director of Development of St Mungo’s, said:

“We are delighted with what has been achieved in the first year of our partnership with Clarion Housing Group, from sharing knowledge and skills to providing vital funding for St Mungo’s services, as well as housing our clients in their properties. This partnership is a clear example of the impact we can have when we work together with organisations to end homelessness and rebuild lives.

“This last year was extremely challenging but saw some remarkable achievements as thousands of people were supported to move off the streets into emergency accommodation. We could only do this with the help of our partners across local authorities, government and housing associations, including Clarion.

“We are very excited to continue working with Clarion for the next two years and build on this strong foundation.”

Clare Miller, Chief Executive of Clarion Housing Group, said:

“Launching a new partnership during a global pandemic undoubtedly brought many challenges. We soon realised that the work of St Mungo’s was even more critical in the rapidly changing Covid landscape, so we mobilised our staff and suppliers and, despite the limitations on the activities we could undertake imposed by the pandemic, we are incredibly proud of what we’ve achieved in the first year of our partnership.

“We look forward to building on these achievements and continuing to not only raise vital funds for St Mungo’s, but also leverage shared expertise and resources to tackle the causes of homelessness and support people in their recovery.”

To celebrate a successful first year in partnership with St Mungo’s Clarion has produced a short video, watch it here.