Carols on the streets for King’s Lynn Night Shelter

King’s Lynn Churches Together will be performing carols on the streets this Saturday in aid of the Night Shelter as locals and community groups work to keep the charity open.

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Having secured a license to make music on the high street as the Christmas shopping season begins, the group will be singing to raise money for the shelter this Saturday December 2.

“We’re warmly encouraging all singers - of any ability - to join our Churches Together Carols on the Streets 12pm to 4pm on Saturday. It would be wonderful if we could gather a really big group to start Advent with a witness to our faith and to the needs of people who are walking the streets in search of an inn or a ‘stable’ this year,” said Night Shelter co-ordinator Lucy McKitterick.
 
The shelter reopened at the beginning of November after some uncertainty.
 
“It was made possible by help from the Diocese renegotiating our lease of St John’s House and also by the great generosity of the local community who gave nearly £30,000 in donations between 1st and 31st October to make sure we could open again.
 
“We offer our most sincere thanks to everyone who contributed and helped prevent this much needed local charity from closing this autumn. We’ve had a full house almost since we opened, and a growing ‘waiting list’. Our local Council does not routinely offer B&B emergency accommodation to people not in ‘priority need’ so some of those we have not been able to accommodate have been sleeping rough. We continue to work to help our guests find sustainable move-on accommodation to help make space, and conversations about our work with the Council and any possible funding contribution from them this year are ongoing,” said Lucy.
 
December is a busy time for the night shelter, but local community groups are doing what they can to support.
 
King's Lynn Community Cinema will be hosting a charity screening for the shelter at St George's Guildhall on Thursday December 7 at 7:30pm showing the 2023 film, The Old Oak, directed by Ken Loach and written by Paul Laverty.
 
“This is a passionate and moving film which looks at what it means to welcome the stranger, what happens when people with nothing give it to people with even less, and what it means to have hope … all themes with relevance to the work we do, though there’s a lot more bad language at the Old Oak than there is at the Night Shelter!
 
“All welcome and it should be a great evening. We’ll be saying a few words before and after the film so please do come along and support the Night Shelter and enjoy an evening at Lynn’s lovely Guildhall,” said Lucy.
 
On Saturday December 9, King’s Lynn Community Choir present an evening of popular classics, carols, and winter warmers at St Nicholas Chapel, again to support the shelter.
 

As a charity, the shelter receives no government funding so relies on grants and donations from groups and individuals. You can find out more and donate at crowdfunder.co.uk/klnightshelter
 
This Wednesday November 29 the shelter will be hosting the next information and training evening for volunteers. If you’re interested in volunteering or just want to hear more about the work of the night shelter, this evening is for you. All welcome (18+), at St John’s Church in the Walks, 7pm.
 

klnightshelter.org.uk