Winter’s harsh by the Wayside

The Wayside Chapel, champion of some of Sydney’s most destitute, has launched its annual Wayside Winter Appeal in the hope of raising $100,000 in public donations.

Wayside’s chief executive, Pastor Graham Long, said that with only 23 percent of the Kings Cross charity’s total funding coming from government sources, public generosity was essential to keep its many services afloat.

Established by Ted Noffs in 1964, Wayside has been offering assistance to the disadvantaged in and around Kings Cross for 45 years. Current services include the provision of showers, low-cost meals and clothing, advocacy, and support for those experiencing severe disadvantage.

Each week, approximately 1,000 people visit Wayside, many seeking to receive assistance with their health, housing or welfare problems.

“The primary category of those [visitors] would be homeless people, but also people who are mentally ill and suffer from drug addiction. Those issues are often three sides of the same coin,” Long said.

Pastor Long invited those considering making donations to visit the Hughes Street chapel to see for themselves the positive results being achieved.

“We offer an open invitation to people who are wondering about the bang for their buck. Come here and get a guided tour and meet people who have been homeless and had their lives turned around. Those tours will make a very big impression,” he said.

Pastor Long cited Wayside’s supervised, drug-free youth space, as an example of a Wayside service that lacked adequate funding. The only one of its kind in Kings Cross, the program receives $100,000 per year in government money.

“But it actually costs us about three times that amount just for the bare bones of that service,” Long said.

Pastor Long said that Wayside had not yet experienced the drastic increase in demand for services reported by some other charities, as the effects of the global financial crisis had not yet filtered down to the “very bottom rung” of society yet.

“I don’t doubt that it will happen. Most of the people that we see never knew there were 10 boom years, they’ve never heard of the supposed ‘good times’.”

Those wishing to donate to the Appeal can do so via the chapel’s website, www.waysidechapel.com.au, posting a cheque or by calling Katrina Mathieson at the Wayside Chapel on 02 9358 5582.

by Vanessa Watson