During lockdown, our amazing volunteers have continued to come in to help people experiencing homelessness in any way they can. We sat down with Simon who is one of our evening volunteers.

How did you get involved with Barnabus’s response to the Corona virus crisis?

“I’m a team leader at the Beacon; I’ve been volunteering at Barnabus for over 2 years now and I usually help out at the drop-in 4 nights a week. When I was furloughed from work, I got in touch with Barnabus to help out, as it would keep me busy and I’d be able to do something worthwhile with my time.”

What have you been doing day to day when you come in to volunteer?

“We’re sending out a heck of a lot of food parcels and hot meals, so keeping them replenished and ready to go, then getting them on the vans for delivering and outreach. This afternoon I’ve prepared 90 hot meals and food parcels for a hotel and 120 meals for outreach, keeping everything packaged up and ready to go so that the van can be filled up when it arrives and people aren’t left waiting for their food.

"And just constant sandwich making, by this point I'm a bit sick of looking at bread with so many sandwiches being made. But, they’re going to people in need so it’s not hard. Sometimes the filling is a bit weird due to the donations coming in but without them we would be completely stuck so you can’t complain."

 

Whats your favourite part of volunteering through the coronavirus crisis? 

"My favourite part is the community part of it, we’ve made good friendships through working together. We’ve made great connections with the other charities we’ve been working with and the response from the community by donating food has been heartwarming. It’s great to see all the good that has happened during this crisis, not everyone gets to see this stuck at home. It’s not often you see so many people coming together (just not too close!). I really hope it all lasts once this is over.”

---

Barnabus has also had some amazing support from companies, whether that’s practical donations or monetary support. We would like to take this opportunity to say a huge thank you to Foodhub www.foodhub.co.uk, an online food delivery service, for donating £4,000 to help support our critical work with rough sleepers and people experiencing homelessness during this Covid19 crisis.

Chief Operating Officer at Foodhub, Philip Mostyn commented: “In these unprecedented times it is essential for companies to actively support those in need, whether that’s a charity, a key worker, their own employees or another company. We have always taken our corporate social responsibility seriously and work in partnerships with charities around the world supporting those less fortunate than we are. We’re pleased that we can help support Barnabus during this crucially difficult time.”

We’re so thankful to Foodhub and other companies that are thoughtfully supporting us at this time. We need your support more than ever to get through this crisis and beyond, so if you can help financially or practically please contact [email protected]