John Lewis Kingston has announced The Joel Community Trust as its 2012 Charity of the Year. The partnership will see the department store work with the charity on longer term projects in the local community. 

The Joel Community Trust works with homelessness charities in Kingston to build on their existing work. Its long-term goal is to build a permanent year round shelter for homeless and vulnerably housed people on the grounds of St Peters church, Kingston.

Partners (employees) at John Lewis Kingston will take part in a range of fundraising initiatives to raise money and awareness for The Joel Trust, and kick-started fundraising efforts with a Partner shopping evening where. The department store has also donated kitchen equipment for The Joel Trust’s existing night shelters, along with clothes and toiletries the retailer collected from Partner donations.

Jenny Tomley, managing director of John Lewis Kingston, commented: “Because Partners decide which charity we should support, the Charity of the Year partnership is always a central part of branch life at John Lewis. By extending the period of time we support The Joel Community Trust to two years, we hope that we will make a real difference to the community in which we live and work.

“It was a great way to kick off the fundraising with the Partner shopping evening. The whole branch got behind the evening and we raised £620 with lots of other events planned through the year. As well as fundraising activities, we’ll be donating our time to volunteer on projects.”

Reverend Peter Holmes from the charity said: “This is great news for The Joel Community Trust. The Joel Community Trust seeks to relieve suffering and distress, protect the self esteem and dignity among homeless and vulnerable people. It is so heartening to receive support from John Lewis and to feel that a prestigious company is so willing to engage with local issues and really cares and shows an interest in local vulnerable and needy people. We are so grateful for the support we receive from John Lewis and we look forward to an extremely fruitful partnership in the future."