Extract from the speech given by Lord Bishop of Leeds and Rippon who spoke in The House of Lords after visiting Streetlytes on February 29th, 2012
I spent this morning with staff of a charity called Streetlytes, which seeks to support those who are unemployed in the City of Westminster.It is based just round the corner from here in Great Peter Street. It provides food for those who are homeless and at the same time, in seeking to provide holistic support, points individuals and families towards legal and mental health support. Streetlytes is backed by the Church Urban Fund, and I was there this morning, partly because of the fund's promotion of today, 29 February, as a "spare day" to encourage volunteering for places such as those run by Streetlytes.
I was therefore able to talk both to those who run Streetlytes and their clients about the effects of homelessness in general and the particular effects that those in charge there envisage as a result of Clauses 11 and 68. They are convinced that homelessness will increase significantly as a result of the bedroom tax proposals and other measures in the Bill. We cannot know whether they are right or not, but it is a real concern among charities that are seeking to find volunteers who will be able to provide necessary support and are pretty unclear as to whether they will be able to do so.
I therefore support very firmly the idea of a review, so that when there is some evidence that we can talk about, we can look at the ways in which we can support and help those in the most need. I was very grateful indeed in our earlier discussions on the Bill for the Minister's promise of a review of the impact of the benefit cap as it comes into effect so that we can find out what is actually happening as a result. I very much hope that he will be able to repeat that sort of assurance and promise now. I support the amendment.
Evening Standard, 14 February 2012
From the Evening Standard, January 16th 2012
Born in a prison, now Rudi finds homes for people living rough
By 5.30pm the Streetlytes drop-in centre in Portobello Road is already packed. More than 50 homeless people have come in from the cold and are bent over their dinner of steaming meat and potatoes like an image out of Dickens."My adopted mother was depressed and addicted to Valium and I'd come home from school and see her passed out on the floor. After a while my dad left because he couldn't take it and, at 13, I had to become the parent to my mother."
At 17, he ran away from home. It was the beginning of a descent into addiction - first heroin, later crack cocaine - and an itinerant life that would see him drift in and out of prison for robbery and theft. "My addiction took over," he said. "I lived for the next fix. For a while I'd sort myself and get a job - I was a legal secretary - but then I'd hit the self-destruct button again."
Mr Richardson was deported from the US to Germany at 49 and came to London, arriving on a bus from Berlin at Victoria. "I remember stepping into the biting February wind and walking down the street sobbing. I had nothing, not even a proper jacket. I tried to find a homeless shelter, but a key worker at St Martin's told me that I needed to go back to Germany and clean myself up. I was sleeping on the streets for four months and when I got bust stealing a sandwich on Oxford Street, I begged to be sent to prison because at least I'd be warm and fed." He spent three weeks on remand at Brixton Prison, then a month at the Marylebone Shelter before seeking help from St Mungo's.
Mr Richardson enrolled on a 12-step Narcotics Anonymous programme and slowly, with immense willpower and lots of therapy, began to turn his life around. He has been five years clean and sober, he said, and has married a woman he met on the course and moved into a rented flat in Shepherd's Bush. Streetlytes, founded in 2007, is different from other homelessness charities, he said.
"What sets us apart is that most of the 20 core volunteers who run Streetlytes have been homeless addicts themselves. Unlike other agencies where key workers won't talk about themselves, our unique selling point is that we do. What's more, we are small, targeted and efficient.
"The local Sainsbury's generously provide us with free food, the Salvation Army with a free venue, and we feed over 650 homeless people every month. We've moved 46 people off the streets into independent accommodation, and we've provided a dozen drug awareness workshops to schools and the community, where we talk about our own experiences.
"The essence of Streetlytes is that we reach out to other homeless people and say 'we've been there, we can help, you CAN make it'. They feel more comfortable opening up to you when you've been to prison, hit a pipe, lived in the swamp. Thanks to the Dispossessed Fund, we can deliver comfort and pathway programmes to 500 homeless people this winter. It has been amazing to see some of our service users, like Owen Cook, now housed, going to college and helping out at Streetlytes.
"That is my mission. It is only just the beginning."
The Charity
What does it do?
Streetlytes provides hot meals, warm clothing and housing advice to homeless people.
Amount awarded: £17,250
Where: Westminster and Kensington and Chelsea.
How will the cash be used?
To fund its winter help project - to provide 500 homeless people with "warm winter" packs of clothes, sleeping bags and hygiene kits, as well as hot food and drinks at four drop-in centres across central London.
Evening Standard, 14 February 2012
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At EMI we want our company to have positive impact through the way we manage our business and the wider role we play in society. Within our own operations, we work hard to understand the expectations of different stakeholders and demonstrate responsible business practices.
Issues that affect our employees and their families, our local communities and our industry drive a culture of charitable giving by EMI and our staff. In the UK we encourage our employees to participate in volunteer roles with our charity partners on the ground, whilst also making in-kind donations - often merchandise - when and where appropriate.
We are delighted to support a charity as worthy as Streetlytes. Our staff have embraced the charity through volunteering and donating clothes and toiletries and we look forward to continuing to build our relationship with this extremely hard working charity.
Firmdale Hotels is committed to working with a specified number of charities per year, one of which will always be within the local community. Firmdale Hotels will offer support through the skills of its employees and the company's own resources. The chosen local charity will benefit from the direct involvement of Firmdale Hotels employees who will undertake a day of charitable work. This allows the employees to see the impact of their involvement.
We are delighted to support STREETLYTES, a charity that reaches out to the poor and homeless in central and west London, providing hot food, clothing and blankets on a weekly basis. Firmdale Hotels have undertaken clothing drives, donated hygiene kits and bedding and volunteered employees for evening soup kitchens.
Reed Business Infomation UK (RBI) is dedicated to playing a positive role in our local and global communities, primarily through employee involvement. Our central focus is education for disadvantaged young people and community initiatives of importance to local employees. We have been working with Streetlytes for 3 years raising money, collecting food and clothing and helping to fund their Drug Awareness workshops. We have been very impressed by the results they have achieved and look forward to continuing our support.
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Our aim is to increase the passion within the Church for the poor and marginalised in this country and to make the Church's response more effective and our vision is for every church, in every community, tackling poverty together by giving time, money, action and prayer. We need people to join us now and each year we support over 300 church and Christian projects tackling poverty.
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We are delighted to support the work of Streetlytes
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Streetlytes is a very worthy cause that we are delighted to support.
Holy Trinity is just to the SW of the Royal Albert Hall. Sunday 11 a.m. Services use the BCP (Book of Common Prayer) of 1662 and the King James Bible.
Sunday visitors can usually find space at the table to enjoy our convivial hot lunches, on the 2nd Sunday of each month. (Notice of attendance is helpful to the chefs: 020 7581 3493). Others prefer to find a corner of this spacious building for some quiet contemplation, or to briefly walk around and sign the visitor's book when it is open during the week.
Weekday opening: Wednesday 1pm - 4pm, Sunday 9.30am - 12.45 Particular opening times (morning & evening) are easily arranged: Call 0207 581 3493
We are delighted and proud to be supporting the work of Streetlytes.
GAIL’s is a celebration of bread. We revel in the art of honest breadmaking, using no artificial flavourings, colourings or preservatives.
But we are not just a shop on a High Street – we’re part of the local scene. We make friends with the customers that we see every day and are here for them to provide bread, morning coffee, afternoon tea, conversation or a quiet hiatus.
Being part of a community is important to us, and that’s why we are so pleased to be donating food leftover at the end of the day to Streetlytes, who provide a fantastic drop in centre near our Notting Hill shop, and will continue to support them as they grow.
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