Meet the guys keeping Australia’s homeless in clean clothes

By Laura Smith

Sometimes the simplest idea can have the greatest impact.

After noticing a gap in the services offered to Brisbane's homeless, Lucas Patchett and Nicholas Marchesi kitted out a van with two washers and dryers to launch Orange Sky Laundry - Australia's first mobile laundry service for the homeless.

Orange Sky Laundry founders Lucas Patchett and Nicholas Marchesi.

But the 20-year-olds say they've done more than sort out homeless people's dirty laundry in the last four months. "This isn't just about washing clothes, it's a catalyst for conversation," says engineering student Lucas.

Being homeless often means having to neglect the simple things in life that others take for granted. On the streets, having clean clothes quickly goes from being the norm to a rare luxury.

"We saw all the great work that the food vans and other services have offered in Brisbane and Australia-wide, and just noticed that this hygiene aspect that has been overlooked quite a bit," said Lucas.

Launched in August 2014, Orange Sky Laundry now runs five days a week, Monday to Friday. It is funded purely by public donations and manned by a growing crew of young volunteers.

The free service usually pulls up near food vans, health vans and cook-outs so people can get their laundry done while they have their meal.

Using washers and dryers donated by electronics giant LG and powered by an on-board generator, the team can clean and dry around 20kg of clothing every hour, which covers around ten people.

But the non-profit does more than deal with people's dirty laundry. Lucas says the service helps make lasting and meaningful connections with homeless people.

"Once you take someone's clothes and put them in the washing machine, you've locked them in for 45 minutes,” he explains.

“They’re not going anywhere, so we can have a quality chat with them, build up relationships and figure out the best services to refer them to.

"Once we've established a rapport with our friends/clients, the service has been very well received. We've also seen some people transition off the streets, which is our ultimate goal."

Lucas and Nicholas will soon expand the service to Cairns, a city on the Queensland coast, after receiving a new van from the Jelley Family Foundation. They are also in talks to set up Orange Sky Laundry in Sydney, Perth and Melbourne.

"Homelessness is quite a big issue here," explained Lucas. "It's one of those issues that's kind of hidden in most major cities, so we're all about raising awareness. It's why we share stories on our Facebook page - it can happen to anyone."

To find out more or to donate to Orange Sky Laundry, visit their website or Facebook page.

This is a summary of an article originally published on INSP's News Service. You can read the full article here. The article is also available for street paper editors to download and republish.

Thousands of Scots buy Christmas dinners for the homeless

By Laura Smith

An appeal to buy Christmas dinner for homeless people in Scotland has raised enough money to feed them for an entire year.

Social Bite, an independent chain of sandwich shops, launched a £5 deal through itison.com on Tuesday, 16 December which allows people to buy Christmas dinner for homeless people in Edinburgh and Glasgow, in return for a free hot drink in January.

The social enterprise, which also employs formerly homeless people, originally aimed to serve 400 dinners at one of its Glasgow shops on 24 December and another 400 meals in Edinburgh on Christmas Day.

But their festive campaign has been overwhelmed with support and, to date, over 26,000 donations have been made - raising close to £130,000.

Co-founder Josh Littlejohn, 29, said the whole team are stunned by the response their Christmas dinner drive has received. He adds that they smashed their original target of 800 meals within two hours of the deal going live.

“It’s amazing; this incredible Christmas spirit has blown us all away," said Josh.

"We give away free food to the homeless throughout the year and employ people from homeless backgrounds, so we're quite ingrained in that community. We quickly realised there was going to be a fair number of people without anywhere to go on Christmas Day."

The surplus donations will be funnelled into Social Bite's suspended meal scheme, which allows customers to buy a hot meal and drink for homeless people to collect from their local shop, all year round.

With over 26,200 meals now pre-paid for by the public, Social Bite can now comfortably run their suspended meal scheme throughout 2015.

Good will and good food for good causes

Since launching in Edinburgh two years ago, the socially conscious sandwich and coffee chain has established four shops across the Scottish capital and in Glasgow.

In the process, it quickly captured both the appetites and hearts of locals. So much so that the recent outpouring of goodwill and support has extended far beyond Christmas dinners.

“So many people have got in touch asking if they can volunteer on Christmas Day," added Josh.

"Loads of people have said they're not going to buy Christmas cards this year or get a Christmas tree, and will donate the money to this instead."

How cute is this? You can donate too https://t.co/3aWLl7OtBI pic.twitter.com/yzz23MZGg0
— Social Bite (@SocialBite_) December 18, 2014

Social Bite customers and supporters have also offered to drop in Christmas presents for the homeless people visiting the shops over the festive period, and have been sending cash donations in Christmas cards.

Social Bite also donates 100 per cent of its profits to charity and much of its workforce - currently 14 people - has experienced homelessness.

“For me that's the coolest thing about our suspended food and coffee scheme," added Josh.

"We employ about 14 people from homeless backgrounds and we met a fair few of them because they came in for free food, so the free food is really the first step on that journey.


"We get to know them and further down the line we try to offer some of them a part time job, and later full time job. We're trying to break the cycle of homelessness rather than just give out free meals."

Brian Rogers, who is formerly homeless and works in one of Social Bite's Glasgow shops, will help to serve around 400 dinners on Christmas Eve.

"This is a very special opportunity for the homeless in Scotland," he said.

"This could be the only meal they get so it's amazing that Social Bite has put their hands out to help. This will make the homeless feel welcome, fed and more hopeful for the future."

Brian started working as a kitchen porter at Social Bite earlier this year, ending a four-year streak of unemployment, alcohol addiction, prison time and periods of homelessness.

I haven't sent cards this year, instead paid for someone in #Glasgow and someone in #Edinburgh to have a Xmas dinner from @SocialBite_ x
— Gemma (@gemch) December 17, 2014

"It's an amazing opportunity. I never thought I’d get a job and have money," he added.

"I go to AA meetings every week now and am looking forward to building a new life for myself, thanks to Social Bite.

"The suspended meal scheme is brilliant. I wish there'd been something like this when I was homeless."

Poster star Munich vendors fight the dark side

Frank Schmidt

By Laura Kelly

Street paper vendors in Munich became the heroes of a striking advertising campaign this summer, as their paper BISS teamed up with creative agency Conrad Caine.

The posters tell the stories of three vendors – Frank Schmidt, Abdulvahed Atchikzai and Christian Zimmermann – emphasising how selling the magazine has helped them to leave the dark part of their lives behind them.

Conrad Caine donated their time for free to craft a hard-hitting campaign that was seen on billboards across the city.

BISS Managing Director Karin Lohr said: “BISS is extremely proud of the vendors and we would like to encourage other poor people to come to us for support.

“We would like to show the public how the Munich streetpaper BISS contributes to overcome poverty and achieve social integration.”

Abdulvahed Atchikzai

Former haulage contractor Frank’s story tells how he went bankrupt and found himself sleeping in train carriages, before finding BISS and working towards clearing his debt and finding a home.

A refugee from Afghanistan, Abdulvahed lost everything there in the war in 1978. He drove a taxi in Hamburg before ending up in an emergency shelter in Munich.  He is proud to have left his dark time behind him. He sells BISS in Munich, supporting two women and 13 children.

Christian Zimmermann

Christian was a successful goldsmith and happily married with four children. But when his marriage fell apart and his wife left him, his life came off the rails. He was no longer able to make jewellery. He did not want to apply for benefits, so he ended up on the street and made ​​his way as a street musician. BISS has helped him leave those dark times behind.

BISS is a monthly Munich street newspaper that helps citizens in social difficulties to help themselves. It has been published since October 1993.

www.biss-magazin.de

INSP Conference Illustrations by Tony Mckay

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www.tonymckay.co.uk