The Homeless Centre in Brentford operates out of the local Baptist Church and were one of a few causes to reach out for support from Thorgills as lockdown hit.  They requested support by way of clothing and homeware donations for their clients.  Thorgills posted a message on the local residents Facebook page Brentford Friends appealing for items to be donated and they have been overwhelmed by the donations received so far.

To date the team has arranged collection in timed slots of over 250 bags of clothing, shoes, home basics such as toasters, radios, cutlery and kettles from locals.

These items are now being sorted and then delivered to the Homeless Centre to be distributed to those in need. These people include local homeless who are being temporarily housed at local B&B’s and Hostels.

Home Cooked Meals For The Homeless

The Thorgills team have also coordinated groups of locals to cook large batches of 40+ meals for the homeless, via the Brentford centre.  This has really taken off and the locals efforts are continuing by taking it in turns to cook up 40 meals at a time.  This is the ninth week of cooking!  What an amazing thing to do.

The meals include Moroccan chickpea curry, a veggie chilli con carne, pasta bolognese, mac and cheese with bacon, roast vegetable soup, baked potatoes and beans, the list goes on! Volunteers are lined up to cook for the next five weeks too, it’s so great that people are still so keen to continue helping.

Thorgills Estate Agents in Brentford have been answering the calls of their local community with their recent acts of kindness during lockdown.

They decided to think about how they could support their local community and charitable causes during these difficult times.  They reached out to see what help was required and their community answered.

Plans were put in place to support the best way they could – by pulling together and providing much needed support of clothing, footwear, food items, homeware items and of course include some fun into the mix as well.

One of the first charities to reach out for support was the Hounslow Food Box who are a volunteer run registered charity (1170666) which provides emergency food and support and advice to those who are in need and live in the London Borough of Hounslow.

Due to the current situation and needs of the local community they needed to relocate their current set up to the community centre which offered them larger temporary space to allow for social distancing for their volunteers and for the increased demand of donations.  Members of the Thorgills team immediately offered their vehicles to transport the current food suppliers to the new location.  They are extending their support by driving locally to collect kind donations and delivering them direct to the new location.

Henry Lane, Head of People and Compliance comments:

“Being on furlough leave means we have more time to continue the voluntary work we have always done as a company in the Brentford community. A local homeless support centre responded to our open offer of help on the Facebook group Brentford Friends, saying they are in desperate need of clothes and basics to help people set up home. With so many people using the lockdown to spring clean their own homes, we have helped our neighbours to help others by safely collecting their unwanted belongings from their doorsteps, passing them on to those in need in our area. It has been great to put our time and connections to good use, especially to support such an important cause.’

Henry organised a live online Facebook quiz from his garage which initially consisted of his team members and local residents.  It now attracts 200 local people with quiz questions being on the local area and community.  No prizes are allocated due to gaming laws but suggestions on nice things the winners could do at home are offered such as; eat the last easter egg in the house or have dinner cooked for you.

Thorgills continue to show their support and carry out their acts of kindness where they can to help make a difference in the their local area.   They will continue to be a helpful neighbour and service their community where it matters.