Our Unsung Heroes: Sam

We spoke to Sam who volunteered at a London hotel during this crisis.

Before the coronavirus outbreak began, Sam had been volunteering with St Mungo’s for six months as a First Responder.

His role was to support our outreach teams by finding people sleeping rough, freeing up their time to work directly with clients.

From NHS staff, to supermarket workers, to our very own teams at St Mungo’s. Every single person who has been working hard throughout this crisis to meet the needs of others deserves to be celebrated.

Unfortunately, the First Response programme was temporarily paused due to coronavirus. But this didn’t stop Sam from wanting to help. He decided to volunteer at a London hotel which was being used to accommodate people sleeping rough during the crisis.

Before I started volunteering, I felt like I was making excuses to myself about why it’s ok to walk past someone on the street. Now I feel like I’m doing something to help.

Getting people off the streets is always important, but now more so than ever.

Sleeping rough is my worst nightmare. I think if you’re living on the streets it must mean you have no one to turn to, which is such a horrible position to be in.

Some clients find it a bit lonely in the hotels – I guess they’re used to having a sense of community. We’re here to check in and help them feel less lonely, as well as helping with the practical stuff like food.

Sticking to social distancing rules in the hotel isn’t easy. Sometimes when you knock on a client’s door to give them food they might come towards you. It’s difficult because you want to be friendly and interact, but at the same time you have to keep yourself safe so I’ll usually have a chat from a distance.

Before I started volunteering, I felt like I was making excuses to myself about why it’s ok to walk past someone on the street. Now I feel like I’m doing something to help.

Want to get involved? Find out about the volunteering opportunities at St Mungo’s here.

Our Unsung Heroes: Sam

We spoke to Sam who volunteered at a London hotel during this crisis.

Getting people off the streets is always important, but now more so than ever.

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We spoke to Sam who volunteered at a London hotel during this crisis.

Getting people off the streets is always important, but now more so than ever.

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