Once again as the bitter cold of winter bites, and everybody is a in Christmas mode going to a good home asks to spare a thought for those who are homeless.

Once again we reach out and this year focus on the homeless of Leeds in addition to looking after some of our local characters from Nelson, Burnley, and Accrington.

Our winter survival bags containing allsorts of food, hygiene and emergency items people living rough will find most useful in this cold season are distributed by our volunteers.

Often homeless people raise money through begging but this may be spent on other things rather than essential survival and nutrition. Believe it or not one of the things people living rough find most useful is the bag itself as bags and rucksacks are their version of wardrobes and cupboards.

While distributing our kits this is also an opportunity to get to know people and from this we can offer help in long-term ways with guidance and mediation between authorities and in the past even employers to help homeless people back into society.

Of course we would not pretend it is an easy task and sometimes it can be the smallest thing that is keeping a person homeless, in other cases a whole range of addiction, mental health issues or both. Our principal trustee Nicola Johnson is a trained counsellor as are a couple of our volunteers and their skills have been invaluable in this initiative.

Case focus

Martin who is mentally ill has been on the street since 1998, he left home to chase his dream of being a footballer. Martin travelled to London and instead of pursuing his dream career, got in with the wrong crowds. Martin’s life turned from a dream to a nightmare after he became dependent on drugs.

Martin has now been clean for 5 years he feels and has been told by others in the past that he has a split personality disorder and is looking for a job but he can’t get one because of his issues.

Martin claims he can’t afford his medication and therefore can’t get a house.

Martin claims he has tried several times to get assistance from local authorities but often fails to meet the criteria.

Martin has indicated where we can find him most times and we will try to help him and mediate where we can to improve the situation. Martin is just one example of many people who face this challenge and we are always looking for volunteers to help in improving the situation not only in winter and Christmas time but throughout the whole year.

If you’re reading this article and would like to get involved in this work don’t hesitate to get in touch, going to a good home is a charity more about volunteering your time and the rewards this may bring to your life will definitely surprise you.

We are not constantly asking people for money as we find ways to fund our self but if you can give up your time and you have skills to help people locally in our society and with our work we will be very enthusiastic to meet with you.