A charity on the frontline of Aberystwyth’s growing housing crisis has been given a festive boost after helping nearly 300 people in just a year.

The Wallich in Aberystwyth has received a £250 donation from newly-arrived business Lock Stock Storage, which has just opened its new site at Rheidol Retail Park.

The cash will help bring some Christmas cheer to those moving off the streets, with the charity currently supporting 152 people across the town – including 25 rough sleepers – as rising numbers continue to seek shelter and support.

Lock Stock’s donation will go the 26 people in a residential project Aberystwyth, a halfway house to finding them permanent accommodation, and will provide them with some festive goodies to enjoy at Christmas.

Hannah Rounding, a Senior Support Worker with The Wallich’s homelessness Outreach Team, said: “Our residential projects are a first point of housing for people who have been sleeping rough, and we’ll use Lock Stock’s donation to provide them with a nice hot meal or a buffet for Christmas.

“Temporary housing is an important step for people who have been homeless, many of them sleeping on the streets, and represents a first step towards something more permanent.

“We’re so grateful to businesses like Lock Stop for showing warmth and generosity towards people experiencing homelessness in their community.”

Lock Stock North and West Wales Area Manager Lee Hanson said: “We recently opened our first site in Ceredigion here in Aberystwyth and we do like to get involved in the communities where we operate.

“We’re delighted to be able to support The Wallich which is a very active charity doing a great job of helping people who have fallen on difficult times.

“We have donated to similar charities elsewhere and hopefully it will help Hannah and her colleagues assist their clients in rebuilding their lives.”

In just the last 12 months, The Wallich has provided over 4,000 hours of support for people in Ceredigion, including those living on the streets, families, those with complex, unmet needs and those at risk of becoming homeless. Its temporary accommodation projects provide a safe space for people to move on from.

A spokesperson for The Wallich said: “There are challenges to helping people who are homeless during a housing crisis, but we never give up on anyone, no matter how many times they come through our door.

“That’s shown by these moving words from a card from someone living in our temporary accommodation.

“He wrote, ‘Thank you for everything that you have done to support me since being here. If it wasn’t for The Wallich taking me in, then I would be on the streets and for that I am very grateful. This is not a goodbye, it’s a see you soon. Thank you for everything.”

Lock Stock, founded in Denbigh in North Wales in 2000, will have over 5,700 storage units providing more than five million cubic feet of space at 40 storage parks across North and Mid Wales and the border counties by the end of 2025.

They estimate that over 60 per cent of their units are rented by people moving house or keeping treasured possessions but nearly 40 per cent, about 2,000, are used by used by a variety of businesses for storing materials, stock and equipment.

There is also a growing market from students looking to store possessions outside term time and Lock Stock also specialise in the off-site hire – and sale – of containers, delivered to location by their specialist lorry which can even bring a unit to your premises to fill or empty and store it at any of our locations.