Helping the homeless

Clarissa O' Callaghan and I recently spoke about Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer's work to help the homeless at the BITC Starbucks Dialogue session 'Has Cathy come home?  What is the role of a responsible business in alleviating homelessness?'

So, why do we help the homeless? Our Community and pro bono programme is shaped by the belief that we have a professional responsibility to use our skills to help people in need and improve access to justice - it's the right thing to do and also makes good business sense. Working with people who are homeless is central to this programme. We want to equip people with the skills needed to gain and sustain employment and achieve independent living, helping to break the cycle of homelessness and associated social exclusion. We aim to do this by providing work experience, support, encouragement and advice.  

We decided to target homelessness because our staff respond well to the activities and schemes we organise to help homeless people. It's an issue our people can identify with as they see rough sleepers on the streets on their journeys to and from work, and they are aware of the issues surrounding those who are vulnerably housed through our work in this area and the media. We make it as easy as possible for people to be able to make a difference by targeting areas local to our London office, focussing our programmes in Tower Hamlets and Hackney, both of which are within 30 minutes away by cab.  This makes it straight forward for staff volunteers to visit homelessness organisations and also for homeless people undertaking work placements to reach us.

We can use our resources in a meaningful way to help people who are homeless. Our staff not only provide man power for team challenges such as setting up shelters and serving lunches, but also skills such as giving legal advice to homeless individuals requiring housing advice, or being a buddy or mentor to someone who is on a work experience placement. Our programmes have also helped to develop our own staff by allowing volunteers to enhance personal and professional skills such as communication, leadership and people management.

The impact big business can make to help alleviate homelessness is significant. We want to help people realise their potential both inside and outside of the firm and we believe we have been able to achieve this, particularly through the work placements we give. These placements provide us with a pool of talent for potential employment; many individuals who come to us on work experience have lots of skills, knowledge and relevant qualifications. By giving them a chance, supporting them and increasing their confidence we have been able to employ 13 people through this programme and consequently have enabled them to move away from a life of being homeless.

I would be very interested to hear more about why other businesses are focusing on homelessness and what they are currently doing in this area.