Today, October 10th, is World Homelessness Day. Homelessness is an issue
around the world. Since it began in 2010, WHD has been marked in every continent
(except Antartica) with many countries taking part.
The purpose of the day is to highlight the issue and draw
attention to homeless people’s needs locally, nationally and internationally and
also to provide opportunities for the communities there to get involved in
responding to homelessness and to able to be find a way to help.
If you live or work in any town or big city in UK, you can’t
fail to have noticed the ever increasing numbers of homeless people; men and
women of all ages, In shop doorways, in tents, sleeping in rubbish bins or
under cardboard. You probably walk past them, casting your eyes sideways to
avoid having to look at them. Hopefully you don’t do what some people do and
spit at them, or verbally abuse them or worse, physically abuse them or set
their tent on fire.
Living on the streets is not a choice for these people. People
become homeless for a wide variety of reasons. Some are simply unable to afford
to pay their rent perhaps because of losing their job or benefit changes; some
have left care or been released from prison. Some are ex forces veterans with
nowhere else to go. Women may have left abusive relationships.
It is hard to get accurate figures on the number of people
who are homeless – official figures are often much lower than the actual number
and many people do not get counted either. A walk around the town/city to count
the numbers sleeping rough will not pick up those who are sleeping in alleyways
or behind shop premises or in car park.
Whilst councils have a duty of care to help homeless people,
many simply do not have the facilities or the money to help everyone in need.
Thankfully there are lots of individuals around the country
who are willing to step up and help. From individuals who go out around their
local area with flasks of hot drinks and warm clothing to the charities, both
small & large, who raise funds to provide temporary accommodation, benefits
advice, hot meals, showers, sleeping bags, warm clothing, clean underwear etc.
I live on Isle of Bute, off west coast of Scotland and we don’t
have homeless people here, well, as far as I know there are no people sleeping
out on the streets but there may well be some people who are sofa surfing or
living in unsuitable accommodation. I rarely go to the mainland so don’t see
what is happening there but you can’t fail to know what is happening with all
the talk of homelessness (most of it negative unfortunately) in the press &
on the tv.
So, back in Oct. 2018 I started to crochet wrist warmers &
scarves and decided to donate them to homeless projects. Not knowing where to
send them I put the call out on Twitter & came across a lovely bunch of
people called @BeaniesMasato who are volunteers who run the homeless support CSR
(corporate social responsibility) of Masato Jones, who is an independent
designer. They put me in touch with some projects around the UK, and since then
I have sent out nearly 50 parcels to various homeless outreach projects up and
down the UK.
I know a pair of my wrist warmers or a scarf isn’t going to
solve the homeless issue, but it will help keep someone a little bit warmer. Through
what I do, I also help to raise awareness, not only of the homeless issue
itself but of all the great work that is being done by countless individuals around
the UK.
I can’t afford to donate money or sleeping bags to every project I follow on social media but I can do
something – we can all do something to help.
So next time you see someone sitting in a shop doorway, huddled
in a sleeping bag, trying to stay warm and dry, stop and talk to them. Say hello, ask
them if they would like a cuppa. They are still human beings, they are all
someone’s Son, Brother, Sister, Dad. They still deserve some respect.
You can follow me over on FaceBook and see what we are doing.
