Since December 2018 I have volunteered at Firm Foundation, a local homeless charity in Harrow, UK.

This volunteering opportunity arose after a church announcement seeking volunteers for the men’s winter night shelter, organised and run by Firm Foundation. Eager to help and contribute to a good cause, I put my name down and went through the usual formalities prior to commencing my volunteering.  

My role as a volunteer is pretty simple. On the nights I am allocated, I arrive at the shelter around 7pm in time for dinner with the service users. This period gives volunteers and staff a chance to share a meal with the service users. After dinner we usually have dessert often made by one of the members of Kings Church Harrow (and whoever knows me, knows I love a good dessert)!

Once we’ve had our dinner and dessert, we usually continue chatting and playing board games with the service users who otherwise would have been sleeping rough on the cold streets of London.

Around 10-11pm the lights are out and myself and another member of staff would stay with the service users overnight for safeguarding.

I remember feeling nervous on my first day of volunteering. Many thoughts rushed through my mind – what are the service users going to think of me, will they be receptive, how should I be towards them…

No act of kindness no matter how small is ever wasted.

Aesop

I must admit there were times in the past when I would come across a homeless person on the street and thoughts would cross my mind as to why they may have ended up in that predicament, often thoughts such as them being victims of drug and alcohol abuse and although this may be the case for some, once you sit down and speak to homeless people you realise that homelessness is in fact caused by a multitude of circumstances of which drugs and alcohol are almost only tools that homeless people use as a means to escape and numb their underlying pain. Furthermore, not everyone’s homelessness is a result of substance abuse.

Homelessness is not one size fits all

Homelessness comes in many forms. Crisis, the UK’s national charity for homeless people categorises homelessness into rough sleeping, statutory homelessness, hidden homelessness and at risk of homelessness. You can read more about the different categories of homelessness here.

Through my time doing voluntary work I met service users who became homeless simply because of a household domestic where one party was forced to move out of the family home. For others it was due to parental neglect at a young age, whilst some become homeless due to mental health breakdowns – something which can happen to any one of us at any given time.

This experience has and continues to give me a wider perspective on life and homelessness in general.

One of my most grateful lessons volunteering at Firm Foundation was having the opportunity to witness the progress of a service user who upon their first visit to the shelter appeared to have shattered confidence, but over several weeks, through the help of staff and volunteers developed self-confidence which led to them moving into supported living, securing employment and eventually living on their own. Witnessing someone overcome their obstacles and knowing you may have contributed to their new found joy is truly priceless.

This goes to show that a simple conversation and a little care for someone can help them ‘see the light’ at the end of the tunnel.

What should you do when you see a homeless person on the street?

Often times we do not know what to do when we meet someone homeless on the street. Do you give them money, do you buy them food? To be honest I don’t know the complete answer to this because either way is helping them, but I think pointing them to charities like Firm Foundation or Crisis can help with their long-term wellbeing which is vital for them to break the cycle of homelessness, notwithstanding, they have to be willing to want to change their situation.

Something I have in the back of my mind is that a homeless person is just another human being like me. They may have made some wrong choices which led to their situation, but don’t we all? Perhaps they may not have had a choice or say in the circumstances which led to their homelessness. Either way there is help available for them.

I would encourage anyone who is able to get involved with your local homeless charity to do so in any capacity you feel comfortable. You never know what positive impact you will have on someone who needs to meet you and most of all on yourself and what you will learn about yourself and the world around you which can help you succeed in other areas of your life.

I would like to hear from you about your experiences doing voluntary work in any capacity. What were your biggest lessons?