Facts, figures and volunteering

‘According to government figures’ is a form of words which alerts most of us to the difficulties of pinning down just what is going in the world in which we live.  Getting to grips with homelessness is no exception. Government figures in March 2005 told us that homelessness numbers fell by 6 per cent in England last year. Crisis, a charity that campaigns on behalf of the homeless tells us that there are 350,000 ‘hidden homeless’ – people living in hostels, squats, bed & breakfast and sleeping on the floors of friends and relatives. This costs Britain £1.4 billion each year according to Crisis. In this Year of Volunteer, and with this month’s theme of Justice, do these figures matter? Isn’t it just enough to know that there are people out there who need our help?

Yes and no. Yes, it is enough to know that people need our help. When we are thinking about volunteering we want to offer our time, effort and skills to help make the world a slightly better place. We know there are people in every community who, for reasons including health, family breakdown, offending and often a combination of these, find themselves on the margins of our communities. If we volunteer to support these people then we can be assured that we are adding to and not detracting from community building. This is the only fact that’s really important. But the answer might also be no, it isn’t enough just to know there are people who need our help. Although this may be the starting point for our search for a volunteer opportunity it does matter that we have at least some idea of the extent of the problems our communities face. From my experience and that of my colleagues working to support the homeless, the facts are clear, homelessness is not a thing of the past nor is it likely to be for some time. When people begin to move away from homelessness after the support of organisations such as the Night Shelter, hostels and the support offered by my own service, Contact, they need help to re-establish themselves over time. People in hostels, supported housing and full tenancies need a helping hand to move them from the margins of community a little closer to its heart. 

Contact offers one-to-one support, using trained volunteers, to those previously homeless and now in hostels, supported accommodation or full tenancies. If you are interested to learn more then call Paul Hartley on 01865 202510, 07967974105 or email contac@crinet.co.uk. A wide range of volunteer opportunities can be explored through The Volunteer Bureau (part if the Oxfordshire Community and Voluntary Association) on 01865 251946.