Just a Helping Hand was launched in January 2016 by members of Beacon Church, Chertsey in Surrey, to help local people in Runnymede and the surrounding areas who find themselves homeless.
We offer day to day essentials in a rucksack, warm clothing, shower and laundry facilities, a listening ear, and signposting to local services who can also help.
Over the years we have been privileged to help many people in need and have given out dozens of rucksacks, adapting their design and contents as we have learnt the items most needed. We are so grateful to the many organisations who support us through collection boxes in shops, drop-off points for donated items, from the public generally, and from other outlets and companies who kindly make donations. We are also grateful to our many volunteers who, without their help, all of this wouldn’t happen.
How it all started:
Over coffee one afternoon two members of Beacon Church found something in common. They were talking about how one of them had helped someone who was homeless over the Christmas period while the other had had the desire for some time to start to help people in these situations. Both just wanted to do something to help them, but didn’t know how. So they just started! They had the idea that they could purchase items that a homeless person might need and give them out, initially using their own funds to achieve this.
They then found themselves supporting a local night shelter, which was wonderful. They asked the congregation at Beacon Church to join them in this, which they wholeheartedly did. The two of them also met some of the residents at a night shelter whilst dropping off the collected donations. Over a cuppa while chatting to the clients they were able to hear first hand about the particular situations and challenges these people had. It was fascinating and also encouraging that for some, what they said they were most in need of was ‘prayer’!
At the same time the two of them came across a number of other individuals who they were able to help practically – including several women in a refuge, a family in real need, and a gentleman who was provided with groceries. They also gave donations to a homeless charity and joined them in their sponsored sleep-out to raise funds for them. In being part of this sponsored event they really felt impacted as they experienced a very small glimpse of what living rough could be like,
However, they soon realised that it was just not sustainable to keep using their own limited income as the need was so great, so the next plan was to start fundraising. One way of achieving this was to sell plants at school fairs, open garden events and hold table top sales. They also spoke to local garden centres and asked if they would kindly donate plants for this purpose and were delighted when many said “yes” to their request.
They also started asking for practical donations, especially toiletries, but they needed somewhere easily accessible for people to bring their donations to. Fortunately, the newly opened Revive coffee shop (part of Beacon Church) seemed to be the ideal place as it was in the heart of Chertsey and had space to accommodate these donations. With more donations coming in coupled with their own fundraising efforts they were able to give further help to the individuals they came across.
The first Rucksack:
Just a Helping Hand were contacted by another charity with whom they had previously met and were asked if they could provide a gentleman with some essential items. The items they had available were not sufficient to meet the need, and so they sourced additional items, good quality pre-loved T-shirts, new jeans, socks, and underwear. They were even presented with brand new trainers! All the items were collected together along with toiletries and placed into a rucksack. At this point they then realised that providing a rucksack was definitely the way forward as it was easy for the person receiving these much needed items to carry them around with them and this provided a mobile storage container. The very first rucksack was given out in May 2016.
Difficult situations:
People’s situations can be difficult and, as time passed, we have been fortunate enough to be able to help some of them.
For instance: there were people sleeping rough in many locations; people were outside local supermarkets, camping out in local woods, living rough in a woodland, sitting in the rain outside supermarkets, people sleeping behind shops, in bins, a garage, and at a bus stop, and sometimes with dogs.
And sometimes just simple human touch can make such a difference. There was a gentleman who declined a hand shake because he had dirty hands and was embarrassed. But with us knowing that it was important for him to feel like a human being and accepted, we assured him that it was ok and, finally, he was able to shake hands.
All these people have a story to tell on how they had ended up in the situations they were in. Many stories were really sad, and many were just caused by unexpected circumstances. Yet these people are no different from anyone else – except for the circumstances they ended up in.
What now?
We continue to support people as best we can including directing them to the services available locally wherever possible. We have tailored the rucksacks over time and introduced new items to meet the needs of the individuals we come into contact with. We also continue to form links with various organisations, including Runnymede Borough Council, who are able to act as distributors of our filled rucksacks. Additionally, Hebrews Coffee shop at St. Paul’s church, Addlestone, provide us with complimentary meal vouchers and have done so since 2017. These are then included in each support pack, together with a small Bible, that go into every rucksack.
Another linked example is The Salvation Army in Ashford who are also one of our distributors and who specifically support women leaving Bronzefield women’s prison. They are able to offer these women who come to them one of our filled rucksacks to take with them. This helps these women, who often do not have a home to go to, on their normally quite difficult post-prison journey.
Just a Helping Hand is truly established now, although there is much to do and we are always open to ways to improve in what we provide and how best to accomplish our mission to help the homeless.
If you ever see a rough sleepers?:
If you see someone who’s rough sleeping, we would suggest that you notify Street link: Your alert can connect them to local outreach teams for safety and support. In an emergency call 999.
