'Life Changing' Challenge For Southall Homeless


Local staff raised thousands in a Ten Million Step Challenge

Charity workers helping the homeless in Southall say money raised by local staff will help change lives.

The 10/10/10 challenge saw participants travelling and exercising more than 10 million steps in 10 days to raise £10,000 for Hope for Southall Street Homeless.

It's one of developers, Berkeley West Thames’, charity partners and since 2017, Berkeley has raised more than £100,000 for the charity. The money has been used for a full-time, complex needs case worker and to help the charity’s Covid-response outreach work.



78 of the company's employees – including many of those working at The Green Quarter in Southall – joined the challenge some covering more than 100 miles. 

£11,400 was raised - exceeding the target- and the developers then added to this, taking the total to over £20,000. This has been split between the division’s two charity partners: Hope for Southall Street Homeless and Birmingham-based St Basil's.

Ashley Kensington, Managing Director at Berkeley West Thames, said: “At The Green Quarter we are committed to being a positive part of the local community and our partnerships with organisations such as Hope for Southall Street Homeless are a key part of that.  I was very proud to see how many of our team undertook this challenge for such important causes.  The pandemic has been particularly tough on charities and we’re delighted to play our part in supporting their good work.”

Susan Cawley from Hope for Southall Street Homeless said: “I am not exaggerating when I say that fundraising schemes such as this truly change lives.  The money raised means we can continue our work in Southall, which is all the more important considering the rise in homelessness during the pandemic.  It allows us to support people who are sleeping rough and means we can help them towards a more sustainable and happier tomorrow.  Thank you to everyone who took part in the challenge and to those who made donations.''

Hope for Southall Street Homeless was set up in December 2015 and runs a night shelter which provides accommodation, cleaning facilities and hot meals.

Annemarie Flanagan

Value Reading Articles Like This? Help Us Produce More

This site remains committed to providing local community news and public interest journalism.

Articles such as the one above are integral to what we do. We aim to feature as much as possible on local societies, charities based in the area, fundraising efforts by residents, community-based initiatives and even helping people find missing pets.

We’ve always done that and won’t be changing, in fact we’d like to do more.

However, the readership that these stories generates is often below that needed to cover the cost of producing them. Our financial resources are limited and the local media environment is intensely competitive so there is a constraint on what we can do.

We are therefore asking our readers to consider offering financial support to these efforts. Any money given will help support community and public interest news and the expansion of our coverage in this area.

A suggested monthly payment is £8 but we would be grateful for any amount for instance if you think this site offers the equivalent value of a subscription to a daily printed newspaper you may wish to consider £20 per month. If neither of these amounts is suitable for you then contact info@neighbournet.com and we can set up an alternative. All payments are made through a secure web site.

One-off donations are also appreciated. Choose The Amount You Wish To Contribute.

If you do support us in this way we’d be interested to hear what kind of articles you would like to see more of on the site – send your suggestions to the editor.

For businesses we offer the chance to be a corporate sponsor of community content on the site. For £30 plus VAT per month you will be the designated sponsor of at least two articles a month with your logo appearing if supplied. If there is a specific community group or initiative you’d like to support we can make sure your sponsorship is featured on related content for a one off payment of £50 plus VAT. All payments are made through a secure web site.

19 April 2021