CHARITY OF THE MONTH
Help The Homeless Leicester
Help The Homeless Leicester (HTH) believe their services can change and transform multiple lives for the better and help achieve the complete eradication of homelessness and rough sleeping within Leicester City, UK. Their ethos revolves around the “3 E’s” strategy… Enrich, Encourage and Empower. Click below to see the story behind Help the Homeless, as told by the founder, Arif Voraji, and his colleague, Adam Smith, who was once homeless himself.
What does it mean to be Homeless?
‘…I was in and out of prison as a young man, I had a drug problem…I slowly made my way through the criminal justice system…I went to various different prisons around the country, lost accommodation after accommodation precisely for that reason. I hadn’t dealt with any of the problems that I had, I’d hit my version of rock bottom. I was living in a tent at the back of Leicester City Ground next to the canal under a train bridge…’ – Adam, Jan 2021.
Homelessness is something that can befall the best of us. We succumb to debt, addiction, family issues and find ourselves with no place to turn but our urban backyard – the streets. HTH works tirelessly to mitigate the volume of people that unfortunately find themselves homeless. They achieve this through offering extensive relief and assistance, tailored to the needs of each person, depending on their situation. They are also partnered with the Leicestershire District Council to refer people to government help and to even help those who may be refused benefits or help from governing bodies such as this.
“Latest intelligence and the annual rough sleeper count shows that rough sleeping is at an all-time low in the city because of the efforts of the council and its partners to bring everyone in.” – Chris Burgin, Leicester Mercury, 17 Jan 2021.
In the 4 years since Arif founded HTH, 1000’s of individuals have benefitted from the services they provide which are:
- Delivering on average 30 food packs with essentials a week.
- They have found accommodation for circa 115 people since 2018
- 5 essential referrals filled weekly (white goods, furniture, TVs, etc.) of which 60% are victims of domestic violence.
- Referring on average 6 rough sleepers into bed spaces as part of their outreach programs.
They are still managing to reach these figures despite being massively affected, like many other charities, by the pandemic. The growth gained from sponsors, fundraising and donations have enabled them to bring in more staff members, increasing their capability and capacity to help the homeless. Their end goal is to see the eradication of homelessness within Leicester, but they can only achieve this with help and support.
Our CEO, Paul Rowlett has always maintained a good relationship with Arif. From the early days of 2014 when Arif was gifting jeans from his car-boot, all the way to having a registered, established charity that is HTH. That is why EverythingCommunity wanted to make a further donation to the charity by gifting £500 on behalf of EverythingBranded. The £500 donated could pay for home appliances that a person needs after securing accommodation through HTH, it could put new clothes on people’s backs or food in their bellies’, all facilitated by HTH outreach programs.
One of the best ways to support anyone that might be sleeping rough in the city this winter is to refer them to Help The Homeless Leicester.
Contact HTH via Help the Homeless | Refer a Person To Us (hthleicester.co.uk) by filling out the form or calling on 07771123440 or email av@hthleicester.co.uk.
Anyone who is homeless, or worried about someone else who is, can also call Leicester City Council’s emergency homelessness line at any time on 0116 221 2770.
