Churches

CHESS was originally set up by Churches Together in Chelmsford (CTIC) and many of the churches in Chelmsford and the surrounding area have generously supported CHESS ever since. In fact, many of our trustees and volunteers have been drawn from their congregations.

We have two chaplains that regularly visit the night shelter who offer prayers and support to residents if they wish. Several churches provide support directly to those who are homeless and others provide their buildings for us to use.

As a Church, why not incorporate a regular donation from your missionary fund. This helps bridge the gap between the statutory funding we receive and the cost of running the service, allowing us to budget in a more effective way. Click here to set up a regular payment.

Alternatively you could support fundraising activities organised by CHESS or put on your own events such as concerts at Christmas and other times.

Great ideas like not sending Christmas cards but donating an equivalent spend, coffee mornings, quiz nights, organising a soup lunch etc, are all great fundraisers whilst bringing the church community closer together. National calendar events such as Homelessness Sunday are opportunities to have our gift aid envelopes, and giving up something for Lent is a fantastic opportunity to raise funds for us at the same time. We are able to provide Appeal Boxes which could also be used as a way of raising funds too. We have lots of other fundraising ideas which can be found here

Please contact the Fundraising Team on fundraising@chesshomeless.org if you would like any gift aid envelopes/Appeal Boxes.

DONATE NOW
You can now raise money for CHESS when shopping online with Easyfundraising.  You can shop with over 2,700 top retailers including:
  • Amazon
  • John Lewis
  • M&S
  • eBay
  • Argos
  • Next
How it works When you make a purchase with one of the participating retailers, the retailer provides a donation for you to give to your chosen good cause. You can then choose which good cause to give it to. Sign up now at Easyfundraising and start shopping! Every penny raised will go towards our work with homeless adults in Chelmsford & Essex and costs you nothing – apart from the cost of your shopping!

Click on the QR code to be redirected to our secure online portal KINDLINK

You have the option to make a one-off donation by changing the field to an amount of your choice. Alternatively you can select to make a regular monthly payment using the pre-populated buttons.

Thank you so much – your donation will make a different to homeless adults in Chelmsford & Essex.

Could you donate any harvest goods for the homeless?

Each year CHESS Homeless collect food items during the Harvest season. These are used for meals in our main sites and provided to service users in our move-on properties if needed, as well as to rough sleepers. On average, we need to feed around 60 service users and more each day.

During the past 2 years we have seen a steady decline in donations for Harvest so if you are able to support us in this way we would be very grateful.

Any of the items below would be most welcome and help us to keep a supply of food available for current service users and rough sleepers alike. You can download the following shopping list here Harvest Donation flyer

WE DON’T NEED Baked Beans, Pasta, Tea Bags thankyou!

We have an urgent need for various specific items to give out to rough sleepers in the 8 local authorities that we work in.  These are Maldon, Chelmsford, Braintree, Epping, Rochford, Brentwood, Castle Point and Uttlesford. We need:

  • Bottled Water
  • Tents (small waterproof pop-up)
  • Sleeping Bags and/or Lightweight Blankets
  • Baby Wipes & Deodorants
  • Hand Sanitiser & Antibacterial Wipes
  • Men’s Toiletries
  • Tissues
  • Female and Male pants and socks
  • Trainers
  • Food: crisps, biscuits, snack foods
  • Drinks: Fizzy or flavoured water

In addition to this we would always seek to find a longer term solution, offering emergency accommodation if possible in the first instance.

If you are able to help with any of the items listed above please contact us at 01245 281104, or drop them to the Shelter at 200 New London Road, Chelmsford, Essex CM2 9AB.

Are you looking for a way to help your local homeless charity but not really sure where to get started? Have a look below for some inspiration and if you still can’t find what you are looking for, please drop us a message fundraising@chesshomeless.org or give us a call on 01245 281104.

The most successful fundraising activities and events are the ones that the supporter has chosen to do because they have a skill in that area or because they enjoy it. So please make sure you feel it is manageable, fun and achieves your goals too! Here’s some ideas to get you started:

  • Dress down day at work or school
  • Quiz/games evening
  • Cake Sale
  • Sponsored Car Wash
  • Fashion Show
  • Sporting Event
  • Raffle
  • CHESS night

CHESS could not operate without dedicated volunteers and many have been recruited from churches and have formed the mainstay of our volunteer base. If you would like to volunteer for CHESS there are a range of opportunities available. Please see the volunteer section on the website.

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Caring During the COVID19

Vulnerable neighbors are still in need of critical care. Our Red Doors continue to stay open every day and you can help.
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