Volunteering magazine article, issue 98, May 2004
What's the first thing that comes into your mind when someone mentions homeless people? The chances are that you'll think of people who need help, rather than those who have the ability and experience to help others. Kate Bowgett reports on some recent efforts to recruit homeless people as volunteers.
Although homeless people are a diverse group with a lot to offer, their skills remain largely untapped. There are about 27,000 people across the country living in hostels (Office of the Deputy Prime Minister report, 1996) a significant group that is usually ignored by volunteering recruitment campaigns.
It can be hard to think of homeless people as individuals, so overwhelmingly negative is the image we often get of them from the media. But if organisations could look beyond the label 'homeless', with all its associations, and see instead a group of people who have a diversity of skills, ambitions and experience, they would start to perceive potential volunteers. Although it is true that homeless people are likely to have problems to overcome, it is equally true that for many of them, volunteering may prove an important step in sorting their lives out and moving forward.
Homeless volunteers have found that volunteering offers them a chance to build their skills while at the same time regaining a sense of pride and purpose. People who become homeless often feel excluded from normal society. Volunteering offers them a chance to become actively involved in the community. It provides them with a routine, an opportunity to get away from hostel life and a way to share and build on skills and experience. It is also a safe way to test out new areas of work without risking housing benefits and hostel places.
A positive event
London's first ever volunteering fair aimed at recruiting homeless people took place earlier this year, organised in partnership by Off the Streets and Into Work (OSW), Westminster Volunteer Bureau and the homelessness agency Connection at St Martins. The event offered a chance for homeless people to meet volunteer-involving organisations and find out more about volunteering. Sixty-five people attended the morning and over half of them eventually signed up with an organisation.
The fair clearly showed that homeless people are interested in becoming more involved in the communities in which they live and want to offer their time as volunteers. Many of the organisations that had stalls at the fair would not previously have thought of trying to recruit homeless people, but after the event all remarked on how positive they found the day, and said that they would be interested in attending similar events in the future.
Organisations worry about the fact that it's getting harder to recruit volunteers, particularly volunteers who are able to work during the day. The voluntary sector has looked at targeting older people, younger people, gap-year students and employee volunteers. If you think about actively trying to recruit homeless volunteers, you may find a large group of people with the time and skills you need right on your doorstep.
Case study: Stuart Handy
Stuart was a client at Connection at St Martins. He went on to become a volunteer at Crisis Skylight, and is now a member of staff there. He still volunteers for a number of different projects.
I had time on my hands and I wanted to fill it. These organisations supported me, so I wanted to support them. I appreciated what they had done for me and I wanted to give something back. I just turned up at Crisis Skylight and asked if they needed any help. I thought that theyd turn me down, but they said, How soon can you start?
Volunteering is the chance to do something, something you enjoy.
I started out on reception, but then I became a drum tutor as a volunteer at first, but now I get paid for it. I earn money and have my independence. I had the talent there, but volunteering helped me and gave me the opportunity to show it.
I found the responsibility difficult to start with, but being with professional people it rubs off on you, makes you buck up your ideas. To do stuff as a volunteer, unpaid, takes more commitment. It gives you the opportunity to show you are trustworthy. If youve been in trouble once, then youre constantly being told youre no good at anything, but here I am doing something good.
Id say to other people thinking about volunteering, Go for it give it a go. It doesnt affect your benefits, so if you dont like it you havent lost anything. It gets you out of your hostel, gives you something to do. If you were to walk down the road and meet someone and they asked you what youd been up to, its quite a big thing to be able to say volunteering. It gets you out of that circle of feeling worthless.
How can I make my organisation more accessible to homeless volunteers?
- Advertise directly in hostels, day centres and training and employment projects.
- Devise clear role descriptions so that people know exactly what they will be doing.
- Make sure that your application process doesnt create unnecessary barriers. Lengthy application forms and formal interviews are off-putting if people lack confidence.
- Theres no reason why you shouldnt get a police check for someone who is homeless but be careful to explain why you run checks and to point out that it is something you do for all your volunteers.
- Be as flexible as your resources and the role allows. Discuss areas where you cannot be flexible right from the beginning.
- Reimburse expenses daily and in cash, rather than by cheque.
- Dont make assumptions about peoples needs ask them!
Off the Streets and into Work
Off the Streets and into Work (OSW) provides training and employment-related services across London to people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness.
It collaborates with a range of delivery and strategic partners to offer innovative, joined-up solutions to the complex problems that face people at the margins of society.
Kate Bowgett manages OSWs Volunteer Development Project, which looks at ways of making volunteering more accessible by developing sustainable partnerships between training and employment projects and volunteer bureaux, providing training for volunteer-involving organisations and producing information for homeless people who want to volunteer.
For further information about OSWs Volunteer Development Project, contact Kate Bowgett on 020 7089 2731 or kate@osw.org.uk, or visit OSWs website at www.osw.org.uk
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