A charity in Boscombe, We Are Humans, is supporting increasing numbers of people in poverty by providing food, essentials, and advice to those who need it.
In Bournemouth, Christchurch, and Poole the number of rough sleepers has more than doubled since last year according to government statistics.
Andrew Talbot, the charity’s founder said, “This is a place for people to gather, feel loved, feel welcome. We are helping people make friends and build communities.”
Andrew said that more people are needing help. Their weekly pensioners’ lunch is usually full. “More people are becoming homeless that shouldn’t generally be.”
“For one distribution our numbers have doubled in the last six weeks.”
Andrew said the council doesn’t do enough and ignores the causes of homelessness. He explained there have been instances where the council have removed homeless peoples’ belongings causing deaths from hypothermia.
Andrew Talbot and Sam Davies started the charity more than 20 years ago, distributing soup to the homeless.
Andrew started the charity due to his own experience with homelessness in the early 2000s.
“In an ideal world, we wouldn’t need to be here, but we do.”
The charity encompasses the entire community. They run free breakfast mornings for school children and their parents on Mondays – Fridays. They also have free pensioner lunches on Tuesdays with hot meals.
Sharlene Smith, a volunteer, explained how she became homeless during the pandemic and had lost her ID meaning she couldn’t receive any benefits or get help from many charities.
“My only option was to get a tent and a sleeping bag and hope for the best. It was a difficult time to go through. I am grateful that I found We Are Humans. It meant I was able to get food without shoplifting or borrowing money.” she said.
We Are Humans also runs a community pantry on Thursdays and hands out food in Bournemouth town centre at weekends and on Boscombe High Street on Mondays.
Liz Griffin, another volunteer, became a Trustee in January. “I’m very passionate about what we do.”
“In an ideal world, we wouldn’t need to be here, but we do.”
We Are Humans are looking for more volunteers.
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