Throughout this week our outreach workers have been on the streets of Leeds in the evenings to offer support to people they find.
As they have been heading out, our workers have passed the last of the shoppers in Leeds city centre. Now the shops are open the city centre is busier than it has ever been since lockdown started.
Our outreach workers have engaged with a number of people on the streets, including:
- One person with no local connection to Leeds as they are from outside of the city. However, they had fled their town after their flat was taken over. They are looking for a fresh start and we are going to help them register at the doctors and Forward Leeds.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
- Another individual who talked to us about their recent success in reducing their alcohol consumption.
- One individual who has been sleeping rough for the past few weeks. They have a tenancy but due to poor mental health had not been staying there. We were able to have a long conversation with them and establish that they were already linked in with other specialised services but had become estranged. We met them the next day and they are now reconnected with their workers and being supported to stay in their accommodation.
- A couple sleeping rough on the streets. We talked to them about accessing a bed for the night but they declined as they did not want to be separated. This highlights a gap in the services when meeting couples needs - there is no one size fits all solution.
During our outreach we walked over 20,000 steps - almost 10 miles. In our Step into Simon's Shoes fundraiser we are asking you to take on the challenge of walking the distances we walk. Your support is invaluable. It allows us to continue providing emotional and practical support to some of the most vulnerable people in our community. You can support our work by taking on the challenge to Step into Simon's Shoes today: simonsshoes.co.uk