homeless outreach (advice needed)
Oct 22 2006
I've been thinking recently about the feasibility of setting up some sort of homeless outreach thing in coventry & or lem spa. At the moment the only outreach service in coventry is the salvation army and, for obvious reasons, I don't think that's a good thing. However I wasn't sure about the feasibility of it:
At first I was thinking informally, we phone up or write to marks & spencers or any other high street food shop and say we're from a student volunterring project. there was a charity i was involved with in manchester who for outreach would go to m&s, pick up all the sandwiches which had display until dates which had expired that day (but were still got to eat for another day or two) then (along with other things) distribute them round town.
However it occured to me that if we're getting students involved in this then
a) some warwick uni undergraduates (and post-grads for that matter) may lack common sense about how to handle some of the situations then can possibly arise
b) there's always the possibility of coming across syringes and various other first aid considerations so some sort of basic first aid training is probably necessary
c) if anything happens are we liable? it occurred to me that all the charities i've done work for went out of thier way to go over safety/health stuff. is this to ensure liability? if we can affiliate with some university society already affiliated with the union can we get coverage through them? has anyone got any idea who i would talk to about this or the legal issues surrounding it?
cool, so yeah if anyone has any thoughts/experience/advice about this it would be much appreciated 
Oct 23 2006
#2
The actual university shops might be the best places to get food from - you can get any People and Planet types to pressure the NUS into doing it that way.
As far as security goes, I'd suggest you do any handing out of food in a public place. Beyond that just stay clam if owt does happen.
If you haven't already, it would probably also be worth getting in touch with the Warwick Uni anarchist group - I can probly get their email address off of rebel_lion if you like?
Oct 23 2006
#3
Or contact existing homeless shelters and distribute the food through them. But they usually will have to operate along strict guidelines, being official organisations.
Oct 23 2006
#4
my mate does stuff with this student group in manchester uni:
http://www.studentaction.org.uk/
i'm sure they are keen on sharing experiences. The job doesn't sound trivial, so i would recommend doing the background research well.
Oct 23 2006
#5
On liability:
If it's just a bunch of mates you're probably ok.
The moment you get other people involved then liabilities can arise. You would be technically speaking an unincorporated association. What that means is you're a group of people (the core group) who don't have a formal structure (eg you're not a registered charity) and therefore could have liability if someone gets injured and you haven't met your duty of care.
The duty of care basically means you have to take all reasonable steps to avoid people coming to harm.
It's actually pretty straightforward. There's guidance on risk assessments and other stuff at www.volunteering.org.uk/goodpractice. Don't get put off, it's not as bureaucratic as it sounds - you basically think through what you'll be doing, where things could go wrong, and what you can do to lessen the chance of it happening/the seriousness of it if it does happen.
If you're really worried then the idea of going through someone else and under their insurance should be ok.
On point a) I'd also see if you can get some homelessness awareness training - it stops you saying or doing something crass and putting people's backs up.
There should be a Council for Voluntary Service in your area. They are there to suppport voluntary groups in the area, and might be able to advise. Details from their national body, NAVCA. www.nacva.org.uk. Might also be worth having a word with the local volunteer centre if you are getting students or other people involved. You can find them from the volunteering link above.
Oct 23 2006
#6
Hi
Quote:
At the moment the only outreach service in coventry is the salvation army
Why not do covert entryism into the Sally Ann instead? The resources we could sequester would be tasty. We could have our own brass band and everything.
Love
LR
Oct 23 2006
#7
I think the most important question is: what are your political objectives? Are you just aiming to be a secular Salvation Army? Secular charity is a small step up from Christian charity - but it's still charity, not politics.
Don't you believe that there are systemic causes of homelessness that should be addressed? If you have some plan to mobilise protest involving homeless people, then that would be cool... but also very, very difficult.
Also, are you sure that access to sandwich type food is an issue for homeless/rough-sleeping people in the area? In most areas, shelters and drop in centres manage to make an excess of bread and old sandwiches available - though a good, hot, nutritious meal is admittedly often hard to come by. How about going to the Salvation Army place (or popular begging spots) to talk to people - about how they experience homelessness, and what they think of the Salvation Army's support. If you approach people on the streets, try and choose a quiet time, when they won't be missing out on money. But the message is the same as with the workers at the uni (that I referred to on the other thread) - go and listen first, and don't be determined to intervene before you've done that.
But, as I'm sure you can imagine, rough-sleepers are an extremely difficult constituency to even do effective social work with, let alone organise. And students are so transient in an area, it's hard to get to know the people and their issues over the long term - stability being something really important for people leading such chaotic lives. The internal politics of the rough sleeper communities are also (in my experience of one city, volunteering in a drop in centre) interminably difficult, and (predictably) exacerbated by drug deals and mental illness, which makes intervening still more complicated.
So, I'd stay only do it if: you can work out a clear political objective; find some way to plausibly guarantee continuity and stability over a number of years; and are sure that you're providing something additional to the existing support projects. Fourthly, make sure you're not just substituting for what the welfare state or charities are doing, or clearly should be doing.
OK - I hope I don't sound like I'm just being a doom sayer, given my comments on the other thread you started. I think it's great that you're so up for it, that you're having all these ideas, and even better that you're putting them out for discussion.
A good picture of the difficulty involved in helping people in this position is given in a book called Stuart: A Life Backwards.
Oct 23 2006
#8
Hi
Yeah I think nosos might belong to a different Christian tradition from the Sally Ann which prevents them working together. Instead they must compete for business.
I think "sterile" is the word that comes to mind. Students. Jesus etc.
Love
LR
Oct 23 2006
#9
Hi
I'd like to apologise for that outburst. This is what happens when you have a drink with "Dr gangster".
Love
LR
I have no experience but would say:
AFAIK all pret a manager's do this. I used to work for this charity - http://www.fareshare.org.uk/ - not sure if they are national or not. Check them out, they may have contacts you can use.
For:
a) surely there wont be that many people involved so you can get togther and chat this kinda stuff over, how to handle stuff.
b) same as a.
c) I wouldnt have thought if you were an official organisation. but i have no idea.