Our first fundraising appeal in years has kicked off with a very timely cheque for £175, sent by a group of Harrow college students who chose HCHA as one of their two good causes while training for their National Citizenship Service last year.

The appeal has been timed to coincide with National Poverty & Homelessness Action Week.

The NCS trainees chose homelessness from a number of issues Harrow Council suggested they research, first picking as their preferred charity Centrepoint, for its work with young people.

But they also wanted a good cause closer to home, according to NCS project coordinator Ali Abdu. 'They wanted something special in Harrow and chose Harrow Churches HA because it also helps young people,' Abdu said.

The NCIS trainees and mentor Dame Kelly Holmes during their fundraising sleepout to raise money for HCHA

To raise the money, the young people held a sleepout on Harrow Civic Centre's steps, organised a cake sale and took part in a 'clink tank'.

We are now hoping to build on their hard work by inviting Harrow locals to join staff and residents at the lively Wednesday Bingo sessions held at our award-winning extra care home Ewart House.

The Bingo sessions are run from 3pm to 5pm every Wednesday with the help of volunteers from Age UK and a group of pupils from Harrow School for Boys.

Along with a neighbouring building, Ewart House won the exceptional accolade for a publicly funded housing scheme of Best New Place to Live in London in the 2010 London Planning Awards.

The scheme is home to 50 frail older people, including couples, and operates under a complex funding arrangement that provides top quality accommodation at an affordable rent, with dedicated 24-hour personal care from trained professionals.

'Funding support from Harrow Council is essential to keeping the cost of living here affordable for our residents,' said HCHA chief executive Christopher Holley.

We'd very much like to bring this better quality of life to many more vulnerable people in Harrow. The critical issue is funding and we all know that right now there is very little left in the council's pot.'

We are hoping to raise funds for our services for young homeless people, disabled people and older people. Some money will go to improving existing services, including super-insulating older buildings, but we also hope to launch new services for other vulnerable client groups.

Photo by Dermot Carlin.

For further information contact operations manager Mick Carroll on 020 8426 4995 or 07733 894 450.