London: Jeremy Paxman visits Anchor House

Paxman with Anchor House team

Award-winning journalist, author and television presenter Jeremy Paxman paid a visit to Newham homeless charity Caritas Anchor House last week.

Based in Canning Town, Caritas Anchor House is helping those without a home to get back on their feet. Over the past two years, the charity has turned around the lives of 500 people and receives 40,000 visits from members of the Newham community accessing their services each year.

Paxman, a strong advocate of finding long-term solutions to homelessness, has been a Patron of the charity since 2011. Speaking about what made him decide to lend his support to the charity, he said: “Caritas Anchor House is the full package - each person who walks through their doors gets support tailored to them, whether that’s improving their job prospects with educational and training courses, addressing drug or alcohol issues or dealing with mental health needs.

“Their focus is very much on treating people as individuals, rather than taking a one-size-fits-all approach. That might sound simple, but it’s incredibly important and, as their track record proves, it works.”

The innovative approaches that the charity use to get people back into work resulted in 37% of residents securing employment in 2013 – a figure that’s almost four times higher than the average of 10% for most homeless organisations.

Keith Fernett, Director of Caritas Anchor House said: “We are delighted to have Jeremy’s support. He has a real understanding of the issues that lead to homelessness and is fully behind what we are trying to achieve here.”

Jeremy Paxman will also be speaking at the House of Lords next month, to mark Caritas Anchor House’s World Homeless Day reception, aiming to draw attention to the serious issue of homelessness and the needs of those affected.

If you would like to find out more about the work of Caritas Anchor House, see: www.caritasanchorhouse.org.uk.

You can also support them donating - simply send a cheque payable to Caritas Anchor House to FREEPOST - HOMELESS, 81 Barking Road, London E16 4HB.