Streets Ahead employees have been spreading Christmas cheer by helping to support homeless people in the city.
Highways apprentices Joe Battle, Ashley Sellers and Luke Norbury used their Community Involvement Day to help serve soup at Cathedral Archer Project’s annual Christmas carol service.
More than 200 people filled Sheffield Cathedral in the heart of the city centre and enjoyed favourites such as Once in Royal David’s City, O Little Town of Bethlehem and Hark! The Herald Angels Sing. The congregation and the homeless were invited to enjoy soup and refreshments after the service.
Twenty-four year old highways apprentice, Joe Battle, helped out serving soup again this year, after enjoying it so much last year.
Joe said: “When I heard that the service was happening again this year, I decided to use my community day to help out serving soup. I wanted to get involved again as it’s for a good cause and people should be sticking together at this time of year. The work that Cathedral Archer Project does is fantastic and it’s great that people who need shelter have somewhere to come not just at Christmas time, but all year round.”
Cllr Jayne Dunn, Cabinet Member for Environment, Recycling and Streetscene, said: “This is a worthwhile charity and I am delighted to see that some of the Streets Ahead team used their community days to volunteer and help those less fortunate than them at this time of year.”
Tracy Viner, Cathedral Archer Project’s Marketing and Development Manager, said: “This year’s carol service marks 25 years of the project and not only marks the beginning of Christmas, but is a celebration of carols for the people that use and support the project.
“Streets Ahead have been supporting the project throughout 2014 and so we were thrilled when employees wanted to help at the carol service. Volunteers are invaluable to the project and getting involved shows to those using the service that people care, which makes homeless people feel valued and builds self-esteem.”
All Amey employees are entitled to a Community Involvement Day, which they can use to help a good cause.
Rob Allen, Streets Ahead Business Director, said: “It’s great to see so many of Amey’s employees using their days for such worthwhile causes. We can really make a difference by giving something back to the community where we live and work.”
Cathedral Archer Project was Streets Ahead’s chosen charity for 2014 and employees have used their Community Investment Day in a number of ways to support the project over the past 12 months.