Santa came bearing gifts to the homeless in Muswell Hill

This Christmas Eve was very different to any other, the pandemic and tier 4 restrictions meant that many were unable to spend the festive season with their families.

The number of homeless people in London has risen to disturbing levels since the start of the pandemic and there is an increasing number of people struggling to make ends meet and feed themselves and their families, making this time of year even more challenging.

We have always been closely connected to the community in Crouch End, Muswell Hill and across North London and have put a specific emphasis on supporting many local charitable initiatives and organisations. Every year on Christmas Eve, we collaborate with The Soup Kitchen in Muswell Hill and purchase essential items; scarfs, gloves, hats and foods, wrap them and spend the evening giving them out to the homeless and those in need.

This year was a little different as a result of the tier 4 restrictions, the Soup Kitchen has been closed since March but Martin Stone, the founder, has been servicing those in need through his other charity, The Next Meal, who have been delivering meals to the homeless in the Next Meal van which was purchased after a £60k fundraiser. We collectively donated, and hand delivered 50 parcels of essential items to the homeless on Christmas Eve.

Yianni Aresti, one of our Partners and Lettings Director based at our Crouch End office, has been the driving force behind many of the charitable initiatives said; ‘We see that people in our community are struggling and it is our civic responsibility to react and get involved. We have been supporting The Soup Kitchen and working with Martin Stone for a few years and this year we felt our involvement was critical, because of the volume of people in need. We also connected with The Alexandra WI, who kindly donated the hats which were part of our gift parcels, so a big thank you to them for getting involved.’

2021 will be an even more impactful year for many so we have lots more planned to support our community, if want to stay updated on all the initiatives we are involved in and how you can help, sign up for our newsletter at the bottom of the homepage.

Thank you for all your support.

Team DA