Reg Meuross, Anna Tanvir

Reg Meuross is no stranger to raising funds for Sidmouth Parish Church, in previous years money has been raised for the fabric of the church building such as replacement window frames using specialist stone masons and locally-quarried limestone and new loos.

This year raising funds for Gateway – for the homeless and those who are vulnerably housed – seems to be aligned with some of what Reg writes about, including the marginalised and the socially excluded, and for this reason is hugely exciting.

Gateway Homelessness Action Group was formed partly in response to the tragic death of a homeless person as well as the general awareness of people 'slipping through the net' in regard to current homelessness provision in Sidmouth.

Gateways aims are as follows:
- To help homeless and vulnerable people in Sidmouth to access existing provision;
- To act as an advocate for individuals and on behalf of homeless and vulnerable people within the wider (local) community;
- To explore ways of assisting with the provision of practical resources;
- To provide a means of identifying rough sleepers and alerting other agencies to their presence as appropriate;
- To liaise with existing service providers both voluntary and statutory.

Gateway was founded and is managed by Lesley Crawford and Ann Worthington- both with professional backgrounds in housing and social care- and now falls under the 'umbrella' of the Sidvalley Mission Community via Sidmouth Parish Church.