​
​
Rise And Shine’s Aim is to help assist people in need . There are so many situations on which some people have to face and a large majority of people cant mange by themselves , family breakdowns , homelessness , no money . Each person has there own way but sometimes the key to someones problem doesn't just lie with a quick meeting , we try to engage with somebody on a more personal level so we can help somebody according to there need and not just that of what a service offers we want to show people how to become practical how to remove those bad thoughts and become more positive.
​
Me (Christopher) and My Partner Claire set up Rise And Shine in the hope of assisting people who were in need out of normal office hours.We first developed and piloted our idea back in November of 2016 and in April 2017 We moved forward in creating a social Media and web based Outreach service. Rise and Shine was created based on my own experience of homelessness and crisis.
​
Since my teenage years me and my Mum would constantly battle I was what some would describe as a tear away , I became homeless very early on in my life and unfortunately this lead me to being mixed up with drugs , drink and crime . No matter what services I attended non priority was all I heard. It became very difficult having to adapt to being an adult as well as trying to survive on the streets as now an addict. Because. Those moments of feeling high I felt happy , no matter even when I did get help and assistance I was still pushed back to the streets , with no support when I eventually got somewhere it became some what difficult to keep it. Eventually I ended up in and out of prison and hospitals from trying to take my own life still didn't work. Now seeing my life back then I was just a confused kid , I tried so many hostels so many places, night shelter none were what I needed , I ended up on the streets for a while and this time I chose it , it became easier and now a late teenager , I found myself in some truly terrible situations I have been sexually assaulted ,held at gunpoint and on top of all this I was abused verbally and physically, I had possessions stolen all for being homeless , I chose my path and now there fear of the barrel of a gun haunts me and has made me and my partner realise people just need stability and a bit of hope .If somebody had been my contact and help I wouldn't of been or seen or even felt what I had.
​
Rise And Shines is a non Constituted group which was first established in April 2017 and our services differ from person to person as it is very difficult to mould a service for individuals that have so many different situations occur in their lives, we follow a key-working structure which is designed by Sussex Mental Health and Drug and alcohol services and it also using a guide following a rehabilitation of offenders program displayed by probation. Our key-working packs enable us to be able to record an individuals personal achievements and developments as they work with us as a service.
We help to identify the negative thoughts in which bring a person to be in a cycle of poverty and homelessness. We help retrain an individual with encouragement around structure and routine with an element of 121 peer mentoring and guidance. Rise and Shine's main primary objective is to assist people in need we believe strongly in no judgement, no priority no criteria as everyone needs help sometimes. Our service has been running for about 12 months in which we have helped assist around 15 people through our key-working structure and supported over 80 people in need through advice support and basic needs of day to day living. Since establishing we have been operating from our home address in Hailsham.
​
We have been meeting individuals via outreach and attending to a person to a place more convenient for them. Our service support is much needed and our future plans are to develop a place to work from in Hailsham so we help outreach to more people in need and make our service more accessible for those who currently who are in crisis.
As we move forward with modern day life with cars and technology , when these become outdated it ends up on the scrap pile at the local junk yard.
Our future plan is to up cycle an old retired Double Decker bus into a crisis access and drop in centre for people in need , we intend to have on board facilities to help people in need meet their day to day needs of personal hygiene and also offer support when services are stretched or unavailable to someone in need.