‘Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
In Southall, labour migrants make up over 90% of the rough sleepers, and so the community joined with other churches in 2016 to set up Hope for Southall Street Homeless which runs a night shelter 7 days a week as well as a weekly social and art session one afternoon a week.
The Farm Street Night Shelter was set up in 2014 in collaboration with the Methodist-run West London Day Centre, and other churches and religious bodies. During the coldest months of the year, the religious bodies involved welcome up to fifteen homeless men and women as guests. Farm Street Church Currently operates on Monday evenings and nights during October, November, April and May.
Farm Street Church stepped up its provision when lockdown shut many of London’s homeless shelters to join with other churches to create a mobile service in Trafalgar Square. It now provides a sit-down hot meal with the help of local restaurants and will offer employment advice and a counselling service.
St Ignatius in Stamford Hill has been using Facebook to reach out to Polish parishioners so they can respond to the changing needs of local homeless people on a daily basis with sandwiches, toiletries, and clothes.
