Running shoes help wonderful London homelessness charity to go the extra mile
A level playing field
Hayley Constable, Deputy Head of Venue Services at the Business Design Centre (BDC) in north London, recently found herself with 15 pairs of brand new men’s trainers on her hands. They had been left over following a health and running show that had taken place at the BDC, and Hayley was at rather a loss as to what to do with them, as she explained:
“Before coming across A Good Thing we would probably have offered the trainers to staff members, or maybe a local school or charity shop. But we would never have known if they were actually going to be useful.”
Hayley had just been at a meeting for a sustainability working group she is part of, and someone there had told her about A Good Thing:
“I loved the concept. A Good Thing makes it feel like a level playing field, and it was so easy. I love the fact that you know the charity you’re donating to is definitely going to use the thing you’re giving away. They definitely need it.”
Just so easy!
Hayley also loved the ease of using A Good Thing, and the fact that she and her colleagues can all have their own accounts, to manage their own donations:
“I thought the platform was brilliant: I got the photo, uploaded it, and then just waited for the response.”
Unsurprisingly, the trainers were popular: a number of different charities put in requests, and Hayley quickly selected the London charity Single Homeless Project. Hayley commented that she appreciated the option to be able to split a donation across multiple charities on the A Good Thing platform – this gives businesses the opportunity to benefit several wonderful organisations with just one listing.
After selecting the Single Homeless Project (SHP), Hayley found the next part of the process easy:
“The charity turned up when they said they would, it was all very straightforward. We ended up having a lovely conversation when we met, and Tara from the SHP told us they’re based just around the corner from us. She told me how useful the running shoes would be, and talked me through what they do with sports equipment at the charity. Even the follow-up was great: I had a lovely email from Tara afterwards, letting me know how successful the donation had been. The whole experience was like a breath of fresh air.”
A huge and growing need
Tara Carty, Engagement and Volunteer Manager at the Single Homeless Project (SHP), was similarly thrilled about the match:
“We ended up collecting three boxes of trainers from the BDC, which we’ll distribute across our sports programme: we actually have a sports day coming up, so the timing is perfect! There are so many barriers to our service users getting involved in being active, not least of which is not being able to afford the kit.”
Tara explained that the SHP used to have a relationship with the sports store Decathlon, and also works with Google, where there is a gym onsite. The unclaimed lost property (sports kit) from this gym is donated to the SHP every so often, but the need is still huge: the charity supports 10,000 people every year – in London alone.
Tara talked to us about the sorts of things that her charity is looking for:
“Any clothing or shoes, but it has to be in good condition. We don’t want anything with rips or stains or tears. And it has to be current – not flares from the 1970s! If you wouldn’t wear it, they won’t wear it. The young people we work with are especially fussy.”
“People come to us with nothing”
Tara went on to explain how little some people have, when they arrive at a SHP location:
“People tend to come in off the street with literally nothing. Brand new bedding and towels are always wonderful, as are household items. We’re housing people absolutely constantly, so things like crockery, cutlery, mugs, glasses, pots and pans are all really useful. These do not have to be brand new! We’re also in need of furniture: beds and shelving are great office, but we can often make good use of office furniture too. With the hot temperatures we had over the summer, we were in need of donations of water, sun cream, umbrellas… anything that could give shelter or protect people, really. And toiletries are always in high demand.”
Tara talked to us about the desperate level of need that exists in London today:
“Homelessness has gone up by 20% in London since the last round of austerity measures. Now interest rates have gone up, people have defaulted on their mortgages and rents have shot up. Lots of families have been coming onto the streets recently, and go straight into hotels, but now we are running out of hotels.”
Tara explained that during the first lockdown, there was a huge effort to get absolutely everyone off the streets. But this lasted for seven months, and then the money stopped:
“32,000 people came onto the streets during the pandemic: people who had been working on zero-hours contracts in hospitality before covid, people who had been living hand to mouth and sleeping on friends’ sofas. Before the pandemic, there were people surviving by doing all-night cleaning jobs, and showering in the offices they were cleaning, then sleeping in their cars. But all this stopped during the first lockdown, and these sorts of people were left with nothing. And no one wanted anyone sleeping on their sofa any more. There’s a new wave of homelessness now: there are no spaces anywhere, and there’s a waiting list of 6 months to a year for most hostels.”
Tara tells us how, during the pandemic, the SHP got 120 people experiencing homelessness into a student accommodation block in Finchley, north London. The charity started training them: they learned new skills, and then the charity offered to pay their first month’s rent, to get them set up. The SHP has been working tirelessly to support the thousands of people who experience homelessness ever year in London.
Making such a difference
Despite how tough things are, Tara was full of hope and energy when we talked to her. She explained how the SHP’s fundraising has changed in recent years, and how A Good Thing – with its focus on businesses donating things to charities – fits in:
“I really believe we can make a difference: we do such amazing stuff. We’ve started turning to businesses now – trusts and foundations just make you jump through hoops and change your programmes, whereas what corporates give is often less restricted.”
Tara understands brilliantly something that we at A Good Thing believe in strongly: how fruitful the relationship between businesses and charities can be. She loves using A Good Thing, and can really see its potential. Her role has morphed in recent years to focus on creating imaginative, engaging corporate volunteer days, which has given her an insight into the power of linking businesses with charities:
“Businesses really want these sorts of volunteer days. We get them engaged, they do something useful, and eventually they are often keen to donate to us.”
Lots more to come!
Hayley at the BDC talked us through some of the items her business may have to give away in the future, including notebooks, pens and T shirts – not necessarily things Tara at the SHP will make use of, but we know there are charities out there that have been keen to receive these sorts of things in the past. Hayley told me how much she’s looking forward to using A Good Thing again, when the opportunity arises:
“We’re lucky, we’re so central, we know there are lots of charities nearby that could benefit. Going forward, the list could be endless! We regularly get left so many things, and the things we have seem so well suited to A Good Thing. The whole process was brilliant, and so easy!”
Hayley explained that the Business Design Centre runs a hybrid model, with showrooms and tenants. Hayley has shared details of A Good Thing with the showroom manager, and thinks there could be some real opportunities there for things like desks and chairs to be donated. Meanwhile, as the BDC’s shows begin again in the autumn, who knows what treasures there could be?
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