(UK) I'd like to do care bags for homeless , how to go about?

apricity

I'd like to actively help homeless people.
I wanted to do little bags with health & self care products and maybe some socks, a giftcard for food, some food that won't go off and easy to have plus a drinking water bottle.
How should I go about doing this?
I can't afford to do a lot of them (on my own)
But i'd love to help

SeanTowers

apricity wrote: »

I'd like to actively help homeless people.
I wanted to do little bags with health & self care products and maybe some socks, a giftcard for food, some food that won't go off and easy to have plus a drinking water bottle.
How should I go about doing this?
I can't afford to do a lot of them (on my own)
But i'd love to help

Hi, I'm a trustee of a homeless charity so it's always nice to see messages like this. It's always a good idea to see what homeless services already exist in your area first, there could well be an organisation already doing this and more. You might be able to help homeless people better by donating to them or volunteering with them.

If you did decide to go ahead with the bags, here's a potential list of contents (in alphabetical order). If you were to do this regularly rather than a one-off, it's better to separate the foodstuff and wellbeing/clothing items because they are consumed at different rates. An apple lasts a day but deodorant might last a month. Obviously, you don't have to add everything, a few items will still help. You could even do a single item at a time, for example, go and hand out an apple to each of them. Also, depending on the contents you might have to do a male bag and a female bag.

Apple
Baby Wipes
Banana
Biscuits
Bottled Water
Chocolate
Crisps
Deodorants (Roll On)
Gloves
Hand Sanitiser
Hat
Ladies Sanitary Products
Lip Balm
Mints
Mouthwash (Alcohol-Free)
Socks
Sweets
Tissues (Pocket Size)
Toothbrush
Toothpaste
Underwear

Don't be afraid to start small, make one bag and give it to one homeless person and you will have made a difference. If you want to scale it up, appeal for items from friends and family or through social media. The true value outweighs the monetary cost, most suffer from social isolation and abuse from the public, a kind gesture has a huge impact on mental wellbeing. I would suggest that you never give homeless people money though. You may also be able to help by alerting specialist services, there is an app you can download called StreetLink that will get an outreach worker out to see them.

Good luck and if you need any more advice I'd be happy to help.

Savvy_Sue

Can only second what Sean says, always worth finding out what's already happening in your area, and bear in mind that while there may have been an outpouring of generosity towards charities at Christmas, the work goes on all year.

LadyDee

Please don't forget their pets. Some (usually) dog food and a doggie blanket would also be welcome I'm sure. Perhaps approach a local vets practise or the RSPCA to see if they would be able to donate a couple of hours a week of their time to check out the animals. These pets can give so much comfort to their humans that they too deserve to be cared for.