Helping homelessness in Manchester
06 May 2019
How our Staff Survey 2019 donation will be used by the Big Change
As part of our Staff Survey 2019 charitable donation, 58% of you chose to pledge your £1 donation to the Big Change, raising them a total of £4,426. The Big Change don’t receive any funding, and rely solely on donations like ours.
Who do the Big Change help?
The charity helps anyone sleeping rough. This could be someone struggling to find a life beyond prison, someone suffering from addiction, those who have experienced significant trauma, or individuals who have been trafficked. As Ashley Mooch, who himself was homeless and now works for the Big Change says “homelessness can happen to anyone”.
Giving back dignity
The Big Change is responsible for coordinating the efforts of 30 local homeless charities. They start by trying to give an individual their dignity back. This means helping them find somewhere safe to sleep and supplying them with the everyday essentials they need, like a clean towel and underwear, sanitary products, a toothbrush, toothpaste or waterproof shoes.
Beyond the basics
The support of the Big Change doesn’t end with everyday supplies – they don’t enable people to remain on the streets. The Big Change provides homeless people with an ongoing programme of support. A designated support worker will strive to gain an individual’s trust, regularly staying in touch by means of a basic mobile phone, to ensure addiction or simply loneliness doesn’t drive them back to the streets.
As well as guidance and advice, The Big Change will provide them with the means to forge a fresh start beyond the streets. This includes things like bus tickets, the deposit for a flat, and clothes and shoes for an interview. So that this life can be sustained, individuals might also be given things like the funding for an educational course or apprenticeship. Those suffering from addiction might be given art supplies or a TV; the support workers are open to helping them try many different measures to avoid them returning to substance abuse.
Ashley is an advocate for the transformational work the charity does, they help those who’ve: “fallen through a hole, who everyone’s given up on, who everyone’s said no to, and we never give up on them”.