MSD volunteers gave our day centre garden a makeover.
New Horizon was delighted to welcome staff from Merck Sharp & Dohme (MSD) who gave their time to do some gardening at our day centre. Our front garden helps to create a welcoming environment for the young people experiencing homelessness that access our drop-in in King’s Cross.
We are a vital support network for 16-24 year olds with nowhere else to go. Through the holistic services on offer at our day centre, online and via our outreach team we support 1,200 young people, aged 16-24, each year in London who are experiencing homelessness. We work with them to improve their health, economic circumstances and find somewhere safe that they can call home.
Our day centre in King’s Cross continues to be at the heart of what we do, offering a safe space for young people who come to us with nowhere else to turn to. In the last year, our day centre has been open 4 days a week and has had 1,427 visits from 418 young people. It is the only place in London where young people experiencing homelessness can access everything they need from showers, laundry facilities, and a hot nutritious lunch through to help to find a job, somewhere to call home and to improve their health and wellbeing.
“We cannot thank MSD staff enough for coming down and giving our garden a makeover. It is the first thing that young people experiencing homelessness who access the drop-in see when they arrive. So to have such a lovely garden with beautiful flowers is really great! And we also can’t wait to start a gardening project with the young people, which will see young people growing some herbs and vegetables and using the produce in cooking classes”
Stephen Ball, Independent Living Worker
As MSD’s Neighbour of Choice for 2021/2022, New Horizon received a generous grant from MSD. This funding is going directly towards supporting young people who are experiencing homelessness. Approximately 40% of the young people using our services for the first time tell us that they need support with mental health and wellbeing so between October 2021 and 31st May 2022, MSD’s funding supported 364 young people to improve their health and wellbeing.
