New charity on lookout for volunteers

Hope Housing is run from the Buttershaw home of founders Helen and Adam Syrop, who have been opening their home to those in need for several years.

The organisation’s purpose is to provide short-term accommodation for homeless people aged 26 and over, while also assisting them with finding places in hostels or more long-term accommodation.

To achieve this double aim, they are calling for volunteers to take in homeless people for just one night to meet short-term needs, while looking at their long-term requirements by teaming up with Green Pastures, an established charity which purchases accommodation to be let by homeless people.

Mrs Syrop said the need for volunteers was intense. “I have been volunteering at the Sunbridge Road Mission Church for around six years and worked as a housing support officer, so I became very aware of the issues facing many homeless people,” she said.

“From our experience of having people to stay and helping them meet their needs, we realised that what we can do is not enough.

“It is very difficult to get accommodation in Bradford. There is not enough social housing to meet the demand. Hostels are full up because people can’t move on and people who can’t get into the hostels end up sleeping rough.”

One of those people was Jenny, a 59-year-old Bradford woman, who went from working and having her own place to being homeless in a matter of weeks.

Jenny, who did not wish to give her full name, said: “I was living in a rented flat but the landlady sold it. Initially I was told the new owners were happy for me to stay, but they decided they wanted the property and gave me two weeks’ notice to leave.

“I had been living there for nearly three years. During those two weeks I registered with Home Hunter and got applications, but there wasn’t enough time. I had to put all my things in storage and had to stay at friends’ houses or wherever I could find a bed.

“I was off work with a bad back at the time, so finances were tight. I stayed in B&Bs when I could afford it and went to the homeless unit, which gave me a list of hostels, but I wasn’t classed as a priority. I did get to spend a few nights in the hostel but only for a night at a time.”

She hit her lowest point when she had to spend a night at the Bradford Interchange station. “It was the most depressing time in my whole life,” she said. “I had never been in this situation before and I didn’t know where to go. That was the night I really did feel as if I was on my own and felt very low. I felt so vulnerable. I didn’t dare go to sleep. I just walked about, sat and waited until the morning.”

It was the next day that she found Hope. She was told about the Hope Housing’s Sunbridge Mission, where she was taken for a hot meal. She met Mrs Syrop, who offered her a bed and she stayed for two weeks.

“Being offered somewhere to stay felt like a big weight had been lifted off my shoulders,” Jenny said. “It was a huge relief.

“Hope Housing advised me of different places I could apply for housing and how to get benefits. It wasn’t just the accommodation, it was someone to talk to and having someone there when I needed it.

“I took the sheltered accommodation and never looked back. I’m now back at work and putting my life back together and have a good network of friends, but if it hadn’t been for Helen I honestly don’t know what would have happened.”

Having worked hard all her life, the prospect of becoming homeless had never really occurred to Jenny.

“I used to see people on the streets and think ‘Surely they can find somewhere to stay’,” she said. “But when you are actually in that situation it is so hard. I became homeless through no fault of my own. It was just a series of circumstances – getting sick, losing my home. Twelve months ago, if someone had told me what would happen I would have laughed at them, but it can happen as easily as that.”

Mrs Syrop said volunteers were crucial to helping people like Jenny. “We are hoping to recruit people as volunteer hosts who can help a homeless person, like Jenny, for a single night and give them somewhere safe to stay,” she said.

“We want to build a network of hosts who can volunteer one night a week to the project. That way, if and when someone needs the service, we can contact the appropriate person whatever night it is, and they are not being contacted out of the blue at short notice.

“There is already a project aimed at helping people aged 16 to 25, but not for older people, so we are setting up this project for those 26 and over and trying to meet the gaps in existing services. People become homeless for a variety of reasons – it could be a family breakdown or the breakdown of a relationship or financial difficulties. When someone is out on the streets all the problems obviously get worse.”

Anyone who is interested in volunteering for Hope Housing and is able to spare one night per week to house a homeless person is asked to contact the charity via its website. Similarly if any local companies or firms would like to offer financial support to the group they can also contact Helen Syrop through the Hope Housing website at: hopehousing.org.uk

We'll tackle the trapped generation

A charity launched today has warned there are half a million young people trapped in a downward social spiral.

Catch22 said it is time to crack the crisis of people in impossible situations which it says leaves thousands of young people out of school, out of work, without a stable home, or caught up in the cycle of crime.

The charity is the result of a merger between youth organisation Rainer and crime prevention charity Crime Concern. It aims to help young people in a range of situations such as those who have been expelled from school or those who are old enough to leave care but too young to cope alone.

Chief executive Joyce Moseley said: “These young people are stuck. They are damned if they do and damned if they don’t. We’ve made it our business to identify the problems and help them find a way out.

“For example, the young person who is bullied at school feels as if they have an impossible choice of going to school to get beaten up or staying away from school and missing out on an education.

“We are here to help young people to live somewhere safe, learn, earn a living, steer clear of crime and become involved in their community. We plan to make a big difference, not just for individual young people, but for those who live with and around them.

“That’s why we concentrate on three things. First, identifying the true extent of the “Catch 22” generation. Second, working with these young people and their communities to find ways out of their impossible situations and third, working with Government to make sure the right resources reach the right people.”

Catch22 found there are more than half a million young people in England and Wales facing these type of problems.

The figure focuses on youngsters aged ten to 25 and includes approximately 190,000 16 and 17-year-olds outside of education or employment; 50,000 young homeless people; 8,000 young people leaving care; 9,000 children permanently excluded from school; 300,000 school age children who have used drugs or got drunk in the last four weeks and 470,000 ten to 25-year-olds classed as prolific offenders.

Catch 22 helps young people tackle the problems they face through specialist projects. To find out more visit www.catch-22.org.uk.

WHERE HELP IS AT HAND

Some of those working with the homeless in the Bradford district:

Gingerbread: The Barkerend Road-based project provides temporary accommodation for vulnerable homeless families and single, pregnant women. Contact: Corine Campbell on (01274) 734285.

Walking Free International: An independent Christian charity which supports homeless people in Bradford, working as an outreach service of the Abundant Life Centre. Contact via www.walkingfree.org.uk

Bradford Nightstop: Offers free emergency accommodation to homeless young people aged 16 to 25 in the homes of trained volunteers on a night at time basis. Contact: 01274 776 888.

Bradford Soup Run: Founded 25 years ago by John Tempest, provides hot meals, clothes and blankets for the homeless.

Bradford Foyer: National project, with a base in Bradford, which is aimed at 16-25-year-olds who have been made homeless. Contact: 01274 200 500.

Food Bank: Founded by Lashman Singh, the Food Bank is charity which feeds the hungry in Bradford. Contact: (01274) 521028.

Assisi House: Leeds Road-based accommodation, support and activities for people who have been homeless for 01274 666274.