Whilst many of us are preparing for a well-earned Christmas break and hoping for a possible flurry or two of snow, we’d like to take a moment to think about those who have a life on the streets.
At the time of writing this, the outside temperature is -4, which is bloomin’ freezing in anyone’s language! But this is one of the key reasons why we set up the Jobtrain Foundation a few years ago – it was inspired by meeting a voluntary group (Homeless Project Manchester) who take food and clothing out to the people sleeping rough in Manchester.
That brings me to the point of this blog – in freezing conditions it is a huge challenge to sleep rough. So the Jobtrain Foundation has been working closely with Homeless Project Manchester (HPM) and have made survival bags to distribute around the streets of Manchester. These bags (there are male and female versions) contain essentials such as soap, wipes, toothbrush, underwear, socks, facecloth and a survival body suit to help protect against rain and cold.
You can do your bit too - for each download of our Christmas quiz, we'll donate £2 to the Homeless Project Manchester!
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These bags are being delivered around the street this week and there are additional runs being planned by HPM over the Christmas period to ensure people get food as well as clothing. It’s worth noting that in addition to the people who are on the streets, HPM also supports women who are in ‘intermediary’ hostels, often with young families. This is where they are temporarily housed whilst waiting for council accommodation. Again, these can be lonely, challenging places to exist in and the individuals rely on charity contributions and the good work of volunteers to provide then with basics such as food, clothing and bedding.
Now we can all have a view as to who is to blame – Local Government, Central Government, Social Services etc – but frankly, we don’t really care about that. The role of the Jobtrain Foundation is simply to get provisions to people who need it when they need it. That is why we wanted to share with you all the story of what we do.
In terms of the funding, the Jobtrain business donates 1% of all its turnover (not profit, turnover) to the Foundation and that has enabled it to secure a long-term lock-up facility to store all the donations and to buy a van to help distribute food and clothing around the streets of Manchester and to the women’s shelters.
In addition, the team at Jobtrain help out practically when they can (cooking food, packing bags etc) – but we have a mantra at Jobtrain: “Do the right thing and do it right and everything else will follow” – and we believe this applies not just to the business but how we act as a social enterprise operating in the Greater Manchester community.
We wanted to share this story at this time of year as we know many people feel warm spirited towards others who are struggling and may often ask themselves "what can I do?" Well, maybe next time you pass someone on the street, just say hello – it is amazing how little contact the homeless have with anyone during the day. No-one stops to have a conversation and most of us just walk past.
If you are feeling generous, by all means buy them a hot drink (but don’t assume they all drink Lattes – there are some funny stories we have encountered about people assuming the tastes of others on the streets)! And if you feel really generous, we have to say that a chocolate bar will ALWAYS go down well! It may cost you a pound, but the smile and welcome you will receive will be worth it.
Finally, and this really isn’t a plea, but if you want to help us do more (the survival bags for instance cost £10 each) then please get in touch to donate and we will ensure 100% of any funds go straight to those who need it.
PS. As it's Christmas time, we couldn’t resist including a Jobtrain tradition – the Christmas quiz! Download your copy of the questions and answers below 👇 and we'll donate £2 for every download to the Homeless Project Manchester - happy quizzing!
You’ll just need to add your name and email address to download it.