Church Army celebrates 25 years of caring for Cardiffs young homeless

Church Army will this Thursday celebrate 25 years of caring for young homeless people in Cardiff.

The celebrations include an open house at the ministry’s first homeless project in Cardiff, Danescourt House hostel.

Danescourt House, opened in 1984, was the brainchild of Father Martin Reynolds, a local priest who became committed to the city’s homeless after finding two homeless teenagers on his doorstep one night.

Since 1984, Church Army has provided accommodation for more than 1,600 homeless young people in Cardiff.

In 2002, Danescourt relocated to Ty Bronna where Church Army offers supported accommodation to 13 young people and teaches living skills, literacy, numeracy, and ICT skills.

At Danescourt, Church Army continues to provide young people with the opportunity to test their newly skills before making the big leap into completely independent living.

The celebrations include an ‘open house’ at Danescourt, giving people the opportunity to see some of the hostel’s achievements.

At Bronna, Church Army Chief Executive Mark Russell will speak to guests about the love of Jesus for those with broken lives and the “scandal” of homelessness in the 21st century. The celebrations will also be joined by the Mayor of Cardiff, Brian Griffiths.

Many of the young people staying in Church Army residences became homeless as a result of being ejected from the family home, abuse, isolation, and depression.

Sue Way, Manager of Danescourt, said: "The young people that live within Church Army services in Cardiff are with us for a time in their life when they are desperate for accommodation, but also love, understanding, help and the knowledge that someone cares about them.

“Some young people comment on why Church Army provides such hospitality, and why strangers sometimes give them presents (at Harvest, Christmas, etc).

“These youngsters have often been treated badly by those who were supposed to love and protect them, so these examples of God's compassion can be baffling at first."