News / homelessness
Crisis support charity pauses operations
A charity which helps hundreds of people at risk of homelessness has paused its operations due to a “significant” reduction in funding.
The Matthew Tree Project looks after crisis-hit individuals at support centres it runs in some of the most deprived areas of Bristol.
But the organisation, based on Filwood Broadway in Knowle West, says Covid-19 has caused “formidable financial challenges”.
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CEO and founder Mark Goodway said: “It is very sad, especially given the cost-of-living-crisis that is unfolding for so many, but the reality is that, if no-one wants to fund this work, it cannot continue.
“The hope is that, by temporarily pausing, we can reduce our costs to an extent to allow time for the funding we need to come in so that services can be resumed.”
The Matthew Tree Project, which was founded in 2010, has paused its services due to “significant” financial pressures – photo: Charlie Watts
Matthew Tree was supporting 600 people “to improve their situation and rebuild a healthier, wealthier, happier future for themselves and their family” before the pause.
It was also distributing the food equivalent of 9,000 meals each week until the suspension of its services.
The charity has its main support centre on Filwood Broadway in Knowle West, with others in Cadbury Heath, St Jude’s and Brislington – photo: Charlie Watts
The charity does, however, still have funding to open a new deli and food shop on Filwood Broadway, in a unit opposite its support centre.
But Goodway says the response to a public consultation it carried out in Knowle West regarding the proposal was “overwhelmingly negative”.
He added: “So we have decided to develop the project in a different area where the community are fully behind it and wish to get involved. We have not decided where this will be yet.”
The financial troubles for The Matthew Tree Project come just months after Filwood Hope Advice Centre, another service on Filwood Broadway, was saved from closure after facing a similar situation.
Charlie Watts is reporting on Knowle West as part of Bristol24/7’s community reporter scheme, a project which aims to tell stories from areas of Bristol traditionally under-served by the mainstream media
Main photo: Charlie Watts
Read more: Community allotment saved from closure
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