Homeless Support Project

http://www.hspleigh.co.uk/

We currently prepare and cook hot meals and drinks followed by a dessert, Monday to Friday nights between 5pm and 7pm. We also offer food to take away that has been donated by our local supermarkets and 2 bakeries, and any food we get from Fareshare is given out as overstock if we have enough left after doing the meals.

We try to give food that doesn’t need warming to anyone on the street, because of lack of cooking facilities, and if anyone needs sleeping bags, socks, gloves, hats, warm clothing, we provide these when they get donated to us.

We do try and support people when they need toiletries for example, and have no money, and if they get a flat we try to help them source furniture, and other items they need. We also put them in touch with any support services that they may need, and we try to sort rooms out with local hostels if possible. We do also take on some of the service users so that they get a sense of being useful and helpful, and to make them feel more wanted and part of the community.

We give them jobs to do and they feel like part of the team and feel more valued. If they move on to better things at least they have shown what they are capable of and have more chance of improving their situation. We have proven records of how many people attend and use our service. We have even seen a lot of new faces this last 2 months, so we know the situation is getting worse. The local council visited us and could not believe the amount of people coming through the door, and have decided they want to help and support us.

We know homelessness is a common problem in every town and city at the moment, and a lot of groups try to help wherever they can, and we do try to assist other groups whenever we can. We are told by a lot of our service users that they would not survive without the service we provide, and most are very grateful for the hot meals and the food we give away. They are very much into their addictions and we hope that through our service they get the hot, healthy meals, they need to survive on the streets, and to survive the cold winter weather.