Birmingham used to have a real problem with homelessness. A walk along New Street at night would find groups of people, young and old alike, huddling in make-shift homes of cardboard boxes, the occasional second-hand sleeping bag, and the obligatory stray dog.
These were people forgotten by society, unloved by their family, and left without hope.
But that has now changed in large part due to social enterprises like St Basils in Birmingham.
Each year the corporate community in Birmingham, along with other friends, raises funds for St Basils by volunteering to spend a night out on the streets of Digbeth with just a cardboard box and a plastic bag as a home for the night.
So on 24th November Regional Deputy Chairman Charles Barwell spent one of the wettest and windiest nights of the autumn out of the street to raise awareness and funds for St Basils. Sutton Coldfield MP and Shadow Minister for Birmingham Andrew Mitchell also joined the event to welcome sleepers and support St Basils.
Since 1973 St Basils has worked with young people who are threatened with homelessness and hopelessness. St Basils provides a home to about 1000 young people each year, and runs courses that build confidence and skills, giving participants a hand up rather than a hand out.
A measure of the success of St Basils is that in the November’s annual count of homelessness in Birmingham, just five people were found living on the streets. That is a reduction of 82% over the past five years.
Charles spent his windswept night on the street lying in an ever larger puddle of rainwater. Other “sleepers” boxes were drowned out a blown away, including an impressive den built by schoolchildren from Oundle School. But Charles’s sturdy construction, which was held together with masking tape, survived until morning.
Charles told us “one cold night on the streets of Birmingham may have been uncomfortable for me, but I am delighted to have helped St Basils continue to do its truly valuable work with young people who society had overlooked.”
These were people forgotten by society, unloved by their family, and left without hope.
But that has now changed in large part due to social enterprises like St Basils in Birmingham.
Each year the corporate community in Birmingham, along with other friends, raises funds for St Basils by volunteering to spend a night out on the streets of Digbeth with just a cardboard box and a plastic bag as a home for the night.
So on 24th November Regional Deputy Chairman Charles Barwell spent one of the wettest and windiest nights of the autumn out of the street to raise awareness and funds for St Basils. Sutton Coldfield MP and Shadow Minister for Birmingham Andrew Mitchell also joined the event to welcome sleepers and support St Basils.
Since 1973 St Basils has worked with young people who are threatened with homelessness and hopelessness. St Basils provides a home to about 1000 young people each year, and runs courses that build confidence and skills, giving participants a hand up rather than a hand out.
A measure of the success of St Basils is that in the November’s annual count of homelessness in Birmingham, just five people were found living on the streets. That is a reduction of 82% over the past five years.
Charles spent his windswept night on the street lying in an ever larger puddle of rainwater. Other “sleepers” boxes were drowned out a blown away, including an impressive den built by schoolchildren from Oundle School. But Charles’s sturdy construction, which was held together with masking tape, survived until morning.
Charles told us “one cold night on the streets of Birmingham may have been uncomfortable for me, but I am delighted to have helped St Basils continue to do its truly valuable work with young people who society had overlooked.”
