Warming Up The Homeless needs YOU
Steven Short talks to WUTH about the charity’s drive to recruit more volunteers for its weekend food offerings.
“It’s like Ready Steady Cook, our home cooks never know what they’re going to get week to week but are brilliant at working with whatever comes in,” says Trudy Hampton, CEO and Welfare Lead at Warming Up The Homeless (WUTH). “It might be roast pork with garlic roast potatoes, or a fish pie and a lovely creamy dessert. It all depends on what’s been donated that week.”
WUTH has been providing meals and support to the homeless of Hastings, Bexhill and Eastbourne for six years and is currently looking for volunteers to help with its Saturday Kitchen and Sunday Supper Clubs. “Demand for our services has increased more than 250% since 2018,” says Trudy, who expects that demand to increase further due to the cost of living crisis and as the fallout from Covid – lost jobs, failed relationships etc – continues.
Because the drop-in Saturday and Sunday sessions are proving increasingly popular, WUTH is in need of new volunteers to help in the kitchens, either cooking “You don’t have to be a good cook, we have 15 excellent home cooks in charge,” or helping with the washing up, serving dishes to guests “or just sitting and having a chat,” says Trudy. “We have all ages coming in, from birth to 77 years old.”
Volunteers need to pass DBS checks (which these days are done over Zoom) – you’ll just need a form of photo ID – and WUTH will provide full safeguarding training to keep everyone safe. “We have a very strict, professional boundary policy,” observes Trudy.
As well as drop-in meal sessions, Trudy and her teams organise food parcels, “about 250 a week at the moment, but we expect that number to rise too”. As with supplies for the Saturday and Sunday services, food for these is currently donated by 17 local supermarkets.
Trudy thinks the charity currently feeds around 1,000 people a week.
WUTH also offer a Homestart service, providing newly housed people with microwaves, toasters, kettles, bedding and so on. “People are often just put in a room with absolutely nothing, so we help them make a start.” Trudy’s teams can also help people set up bank accounts, help with housing queries – WUTH works with a specialist housing lawyer – and will help the homeless secure the photo ID that will be newly required at the next general election.
If you’d like to volunteer behind the scenes, WUTH is also on the lookout for drivers to help with collections and deliveries and for people to help out in distribution centres.
Trudy is unequivocal in her praise for the volunteers: “We’re so lucky – our volunteers are excellent, they are dedicated to removing the stigma that surrounds homelessness, and they always strive to do their best for the people we serve.”
• If you would like to find out more about volunteering opportunities visit www.wuth.org or email [email protected]
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