“It’s not how you start – it’s how you finish”
It’s a Saturday morning and Sam*, a support worker for homeless charity St Mungo’s, is collecting food for a client who arrived at one of their hostels overnight.
His client has been sleeping rough and is trying to overcome addiction. He arrived with no food so this emergency parcel from Hackney Foodbank is a lifeline. Sam can empathize more than most, having been homeless for 10 years from the age of 16 and in and out of prison for petty crime.
He said: “I got into a St Mungo’s hostel in 2012 and started volunteering – eventually I applied for a role there. I’d never had a job before then. Our support workers help people learn to live independently; we help them access benefits and we take them to appointments.
“From time to time I pick up emergency food from Hackney Foodbank for my clients. The man I’m supporting today has been rough sleeping for a year. He doesn’t have any food and he can’t cook. He has mental health problems and drug dependency, and he doesn’t know how to keep clean. I’m working on a safeguarding referral for adult social care for him.
“Many of the people we support don’t have any food or any recourse to public funds. Sometimes I bring them with me to the food bank to collect, other times I pick up food for them. I believe in everyone we support – setting the foundations; giving them a place to start from is a help. I’m blessed to have something meaningful to do.”
Sam, who has two young children, has turned his life around after a difficult start. He added: “Life for me is good now. I have secure accommodation. I always thought I’d never get a job but once I got the opportunity with St Mungo’s I never looked back at the old life. It’s not how you start – it’s how you finish!”
St Mungo’s frontline workers can help more people sleeping rough and find them safe beds away from the streets.
Demand for Hackney Foodbank has increased by 42% in the past year as more people struggle to afford the basics. The charity has six distribution centres and the Hackney Giving Van (a mobile food bank, which reaches other parts of the community.) It’s part of the Trussell Trust network.
* Sam’s name has been changed to protect his identity.