We Are Human are providing life saving sleep pods for homeless

Andrew Talbot is the CEO and Founder of We Are Human.

He believes his role in the company is to “lead us down the path we need to be going down, helping people less fortunate than ourselves.”

Andrew founded We Are Human over 20 years ago, but only recently three years ago it became a licenced charity and since then have made massive steps.

image of an older man in a blue adidas jacket along with a bule hat — Andrew Talbot founder and CEO of We Are Human charity Credit: Charlotte Spicer

He himself used to be homeless and being de-humanised and ‘not being treated like an actual person’ just because he didn’t have an actual home was what drew him to start bringing this to his community.

One night while Andrew sat in his tent which had been through a hail storm and was completely soaked through he decided, he was going to make change for himself and for others who are in his situation.

We are Human have multiple cafes open during the week where they serve hot food, sandwiches, cakes, beverages, clothes, toiletries, sleeping bags and tents. On Monday evenings they see around 30-60 homeless come and use their facilities.

A sleep pod costs £30 each to make. They are produced by a charity called sleep pod, and are distributed all over the UK.

The initial idea came off the back of two men who were homeless, who wanted to create something substantial to “keep people alive” and he says sleep pods are certainly doing that.

A sleep pod keeps you 10-15 degrees warmer than a normal tent would for someone on the street. They are lightweight with no poles, and a setting up time around 30 seconds which goes for taking it down too.

James Murry found the charity five months ago, since then he said he has been “helped right out.”

image of a man who has ginger hair and beared, dressed in a grey tracksuit with a beige colour bag around him — James Murry who was helped out by the charity We Are Human Credit: Charlotte Spicer

During his first week he signed up to sleep in one of the pods, on Soho beach. “I was in the pouring rain, the wind was horrific, but you can survive in them, it’s ” life saving stuff.”

He said he would recommend the pods and charity to anyone who is out sleeping on the streets.

He exclaimed, “lots of people from the community break their backs for this and it’s a beautiful place to be.”

For many people it’s the difference between life and death, especially with the current weather patterns. These pods and community make all the difference as James said there aren’t many places that give them out freely “he really is providing life over death.”