Customers and colleagues of South Western Railway (SWR) are supporting a charity that will provide a meal for homeless people this Christmas.

The company is donating £2 towards to cost of meals for homeless people by inviting donations from its customers and colleagues to cover the cost of the meal.

Ace of Clubs is based at Clapham in South West London, and is just one of the charity partners and community organisations that the company has supported during the last year.

Ace of Clubs serves people in South West London who are homelesss, sleeping rough, or living in temporary or insecure housing. From its centre in Clapham, it provides safety, food, warmth, clothing, laundry, showers, housing support, and someone to talk to.

South Western Railway has also donated to the charity unclaimed lost property from its London Waterloo office, including warm clothing, sleeping bags, and tents. The Christmas tree supplier Pines and Needles has donated a Christmas tree that has been erected at the Shopstop shopping centre entrance to Clapham Junction station where customers passing through the station can make donations.

As well as supporting Ace of Clubs, South Western Railway is supporting other charities including the following:

• installed 154 defibrillators at all of its staffed stations and is working with the Alex Wardle Foundation to raise awareness of sudden arrhythmic death syndrome and provide CPR training for colleagues;
•  supported Missing People’s ‘Safe Way Home’ campaign to support people thinking of going missing, or are already missing;
• supported a gala for Baby Necessities that provides new and pre-loved items to families;
• invited SERV Surrey & London, which is a free blood-delivery service for the NHS, to conduct fundraising on the concourse at London Waterloo station.

During the last year 58 small and medium-sized projects received grants from the railway’s Customer and Communities Improvement Fund (CCIF) have benefitted communities across its network, one such beneficiary being Vauxhall City Farm in Lambeth, which sets out its project here.

Applications are now open for the 2024-25 round of CCIF and they can be submitted until the end of Sunday, 31 December. Any person or organisation on South Western Railway’s network with a suitable project proposal can apply, and further details about the criteria for applications can be found here.

Peter Williams, Customer and Commercial Director of South Western Railway, commented: “Christmas is a joyous time of year for many, but it can also be a difficult period for those going through hardship. This festive season, we invite you to support our charity partner Ace of Clubs to provide free meals for people experiencing homelessness.

“Ace of Clubs does fantastic work from its centre in Clapham, and we are pleased to have worked with them over a number of years on campaigns such as this, and to have donated unclaimed lost property from our Waterloo office so it can be put to good use by those in need.

“This appeal rounds off a year of successful partnerships with charities and community groups across our network. We want SWR to be at the heart of the communities we serve, ensuring we provide social as well as economic value to our great region.”

Richard Gordon, Manager of Centre Operations and Casework at Ace of Clubs, commented: “I would like to thank SWR for choosing Ace of Clubs as a charity partner over the last two years, and hope that at some point in the future we have an opportunity to partner again.

“Ace of Clubs receives no government funding, so our partnership with SWR has been invaluable for restoring dignity to our service users, and bringing comfort and warmth to homeless and vulnerable adults in and around the Clapham area.

“Simply put, we couldn’t do what we do without amazing people like those at SWR.”