March 12, 2019

Get Digital

Get Digital Scotland will “open digital doors” for homeless people.

The new digital inclusion campaign launches creating 250 ‘digital champions’ to ensure vulnerable people aren’t left behind in digital age.

A new digital inclusion initiative has recently launched in Scotland to give homeless people the computer skills “other take for granted”.

Two of Scotland’s leading homelessness charities Streetwork and Simon Community Scotland unveiled Get Digital after receiving a £250,000 grant from the Scottish government to create ‘digital champions’.

This will see 250 workers from the two charities receive training to provide support to people experiencing homelessness in learning digital skills and engaging with the digital world.

February 17, 2019

Take One Leave One

This community ‘take one leave one’ initiative is fighting the cold snap.

The founder hopes his clothes rail move will spark others to set up their own initiative.

As temperatures drop across the country a new community-led initiative has launched in a bid to help rough sleepers keep warm during the cold snap.

#TakeOneLeaveOne launched in January 29 at London’s Exmouth Market, offering coats, scarves, gloves and blankets to anyone who needs them.

Rails and baskets can be found outside the Holy Redeemer church and ‘pledge cards’ for services at local businesses are available offering laundry services, food and hot drinks and haircuts.

January 31, 2019

Beam

Beam is harnessing local communities to help homeless people back to work.

It’s tech for good, it’s a team effort and it’s opening doors for some of the UK’s most disadvantaged people.

London entrepreneur Alex Stephany thinks tech is key to getting people into work and eradicating poverty. His model, Beam, uses an online platform to rally a homeless person’s community closer around them until they have the skills to support themselves.

Beam is a crowdfunding platform developed by Stephany, whose passion for the so-called sharing economy led him to write a book on the concept and even advise the city of Seoul on it. The project opens up opportunities for homeless people, who might otherwise be shut out of work, by fundraising for them to attend training which will help them get into employment. Beam members tell their own stories in their own words and their progress can be tracked online while they crowdfund themselves back into work.

January 20, 2019

Big Data

How Big Data can prevent homelessness.

Councils already know all about us – but now it seems these data goldmines can be used to predict who might fall into hardship.

“The idea is to collect the data in the council database that could raise the red flag around an individual.”

Professor Vania Sena believes the swathes of data that councils already hold on us could be used to prevent homelessness.

The University of Essex researcher is working with Suffolk and Essex County Councils to analyse large sets of citizen data, collectively known as Big Data, using algorithms that will be used to predict when people need help.

If data analysis and predictive algorithms sounds cutting-edge, Sena says the actual models being used are very basic. “We’re not talking here about sophisticated artificial intelligence,” she says.

January 10, 2019

ShowerBox

London’s ShowerBox will provide ‘eco-showers’ for homeless people.

Project founder Sarah Lamptey is on the hunt for a suitable space to station the solar-powered free showers.

The founder of London’s first free showers for homeless people is set to create a solar-powered facility to serve as a community space.

The ShowerBox initiative, set up by radio presenter Sarah Lamptey, provides safe shower facilities for the homeless. She recently received a large donation of solar-powered showers from tech company Navitron and is looking for a space or organisation which shares the ShowerBox values to collaborate with her on “providing eco-showers and company to those who need them, just as public baths used to in this country”.

December 17, 2018

Luminary Bakery

The social enterprise bakery offering opportunities for women from economic and social disadvantage.

Luminary Bakery is a social enterprise set up to provide training, employment opportunities and community to disadvantaged women in East London. We recently started working with them at our shop on Leather Lane when we were blown away by their amazing cakes, and their unusual and inspirational story.

On a quiet, drizzly morning in February, I headed over to Stoke Newington to visit their bakery-cum-cafe and find out more about how it all came to be. Over a cup of tea, accompanied by the smell of freshly baked Irish soda bread, founder, Alice Williams tells all…

December 13, 2018

Behind the Label.

Behind the Label is giving marginalised people a voice through theatre.

The Theatre Versus Oppression project helps people who have experienced homelessness learn to cope through sharing their stories on stage.

Theatre is a powerful medium to boost confidence and self-expression, giving those people marginalised in society a voice.

Last week, we told you how Big Issue vendor Clive had used his newfound love of the stage to sharpen his selling skills and conquer his demons.

This week it will be the turn of Behind the Label – an applied Theatre project in Cardiff run by Theatre Versus Oppression in partnership with The Wallich and Wales Millennium Centre.

Kicking off in 2016, the programme is a training course for people who have experienced addiction, trauma, homelessness or mental health problems.

December 11, 2018

Big Green Bookshop

An independent bookshop is using Twitter to buy books for homeless people.

Big Green Bookshop have followed up their novel #buyastrangerabook initiative with #buyShelterabook this Christmas.

Twitter is not known for being the merriest place on Earth at the moment, even at the so-called ‘most wonderful time of the year’, but an independent bookshop owner is changing that while helping homeless people access books.

Simon Key of the Big Green Bookshop in Wood Green has already highlighted the power of social media with their popular #buyastrangerabook initiative which asked Twitter users to pay forward for a book to be given to a stranger.

Now, Simon has unveiled a new version of the social media project with #buyShelterabook, this time asking customers to pledge to buy a book for homelessness charity Shelter.

December 9, 2018

Savile Row

Savile Row pop-up shop to sell menswear for homelessness charity.

The world centre of luxury men’s clothes will host the week of events to raise funds for Crisis.

Bespoke tailoring hotspot Savile Row is sending out A Call to Garms with a pop-up shop selling luxury menswear to benefit homeless people.

In support of national homelessness charity Crisis, the store will open on December 10-15 at 31 Savile Row in Mayfair, central London. The pop-up will follow that launched by Kate Bush where remastered versions of her 40-year back catalogue will be on sale, also for Crisis.

As well as the must-visit shop, a programme of events and appearances has been arranged including a closing party headlined by David Gray.

Julian Stocks, chief executive of building owner The Pollen Estate, said: “Savile Row is the world’s finest street for bespoke tailoring and we are thrilled to be working with Tom Stubbs and Crisis on the world’s most sartorial charity pop-up.

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Tag: homelessness