Our Oxford team has donated hundreds of goodies to charity to help the homeless.

The team, along with some of the Oxford couriers, gathered together to make a difference and support a local homelessness charity, the Oxford Homeless Project, by providing much-needed items such as rice, pasta, canned goods, and toiletries. Michael, who is the service centre manager, kindly talked us through the process of making such a wonderful difference to their community.

“Throughout February and March, the Oxford team has been asking for donations for our local chosen charity, the Oxford Homeless Project. During this period, self-employed couriers and colleagues have kindly donated hundreds of staple items such as rice, pasta, canned products and toiletries. I must admit, seeing such generosity has been quite overwhelming.

The Oxford Homeless Project has been running for just under 10 years and was set up by Shabnam Sabir BEM and Tayyaba Hameed. They have helped many people within Oxford by providing hot meals and an opportunity to talk about their struggles. Whilst the aim of the charity is to provide to people who are currently homeless, they also feed and provide food for people who are struggling 'to make ends meet'.

In March, both Jermaine, an Operations Controller at CitySprint, and I had the privilege of seeing the great work Shabnam and her volunteers do by providing hot meals. We also decided to take our youngest children along to learn from the experience.

When we arrived, Jermaine was amazed to see an old school friend named Marcus. They hadn’t seen each other for many years, so to be reunited again was another great outcome of working with the Oxford Homelessness Project.

Marcus has since faced multiple challenges and is now living in shared accommodation. He was truly humbled by the fact we had made such a donation, confirming, ‘Not everybody is here by their own actions and many people have fallen on hard times, not having the opportunity or support to pick themselves up and the CitySprint donation is hugely appreciated’.

It shows that anyone can be affected, especially with the current financial climate coming down harder than ever. We reflected on how difficult it must be to not know when or where your next meal is coming from or that you might lose your home.

We also had the opportunity to serve the food provided, which was an amazing thing to experience. We also saw some refugees who had attended to receive a hot meal offer to cut some of the homeless people’s hair for free. This was great to see and so humbling.

Towards the end of our visit, Shabnam mentioned she normally pays for the ingredients for the meals herself and in the past has even paid for a coach to take the homeless to Bournemouth Beach for the day. Shabnam said, ‘They would talk about the trip for years… it was so great as many of the people that went had never left Oxford before’.

I am so proud of the team and our support for this amazing charity. We have all agreed that we will continue to support Shabnam’s charity with donations, and hopefully in the future we can support in other ways too.”

Well done to the Oxford team, couriers, and the Oxford Homelessness Project for putting back into their community and looking after their own. This heartwarming story is just one of the many ways you can help. Whether you can afford to donate money, items or even your time, any help goes a long way, and we’re certain it will never go unnoticed.

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