What can you do to help the Homeless?

We talk to Alison Lynn, the co-founder of Reaching Out Liverpool, a volunteer led organisation supporting the homeless in Liverpool City Centre

Q. Tell me about Reaching Out, who you are, when you launched and what you do. 

Reaching Out is an “un-incorporated voluntary organisation”, which means we are basically a group of volunteers who run our own outreach service. We launched in October 2021 and we go out on the streets of Liverpool City Centre every Monday evening. We provide hot drinks, hot meals, sandwiches, snacks, clothing, sleeping bags, underwear and toiletries to those who need our help. Along with that we are a friendly face for our service users to chat to each week.

Q. You and your Co-founders both work full time and the charity is 100% volunteer run, What prompted you to set up Reaching Out?

During lockdown myself and a few of the other co-founders met whilst volunteering for another homeless charity providing meals etc. Eventually that charity was kind of coming to an end and we decided that we had the knowledge and passion to start our own service up where we were in control of how it was ran and how the funds were spent etc.

Q. What is the most challenging part of running the charity?  

There are a few challenges, the time it takes to organise our service is a big one. It is not a case of just turning up on a Monday evening to hand out supplies. It is the organisation of volunteer rotas, the cooking rotas and the logistics of picking the food up, answering messages, sorting donations and most importantly fundraising and ensuring we have enough money to be able to continue our service. Doing all this while working full time and having a family life can be quite difficult but I wouldn’t change it for the world. Another challenge is the emotional side of it, hearing people’s stories and how they have been let down by the system it can be absolutely heart-breaking.

Q.  Tell me about a high and a low of running Reaching Out

A high that sticks out for me, is seeing one of our previous service users coming back to visit us on one of our Monday nights, she had managed to get herself sorted, went to college gained qualifications and got a job, moved into a house, met someone and had a baby and is absolutely thriving. Still brings tears to my eyes thinking of how well she has done for herself. Another high is seeing the kindness of people in Liverpool who wish to help and the amount of small local businesses who support us, whether that be through supplying food, or donating money etc, we really are in a great city.

The lows are seeing people at their worst, especially in the winter months knowing they are out on the streets. Also, we help everyone in need, they may not technically be homeless as they have accommodation but cannot afford to eat, we don’t question or judge if people need our help we provide it, and a low of this is seeing a lot of hostility regarding who we give food to and where they are from. It is quite upsetting, everyone is a human being and deserves the right to a hot meal and a bed no matter where in the world they are from

Q. Homelessness is a growing problem in our cities and our increasingly cashless society must be impacting on those who rely on handouts from members of the public. As some who is out on the streets weekly speaking to those who are unhoused, What would you do differently if you were in charge of the budget?

The first thing that needs to be done is more social housing needs to be available, since Margaret Thatcher introduced the right to buy so many council properties were lost and not replaced, also there needs to be more support available, a lot of people have been on the streets that long and they have addiction, mental health issues etc, I would put funding into not just housing people but rehabilitation and support to help these people be able to live independently successfully.

Q. What would you say to someone who suggests that by feeding people living on the streets we are enabling them and not encouraging them to go and get help / seek employment?

I would say do not judge people without knowing who they are or what their stories are. A lot of people are only 1 pay day away from homelessness, and it could happen to anyone. These are real people with feelings, and a lot have issues that they try to seek help for. Personally, I know quite a few people who are actively trying to work, but it’s the vicious circle of no address, no job etc. There isn’t enough support out there to help people, so while they are stuck in this situation, we can try and make it a little bit brighter by ensuring they have a nice hot meal and some warm clothes.

Q. What can we the general public do to help those living on the streets in our area?

The main thing is acknowledge them, our service users say is that they can go days without speaking to anyone, people walk past them like they do not exist. Human interaction is so important, if you can offer them a hot drink or something to eat great, if not just taking the time to say hello can make a huge difference.

Q. How can we donate to Reaching Out?

Our Instagram page is @ReachingOutLiverpool or you can donate via our Amazon Wishlist where people can buy items and they are delivered to us. There is also a link to our PayPal if people wish to donate money. People can always DM us on Instagram to if they want to enquire how to donate.