Recent Work

Sunday 3rd November 2024

Tonight people queued all the way around the corner, probably one of the longest queues we have experienced. The hustle and bustle of people continued all night. We just want to thank everyone for being so patient, as the team was amazing with the support they provided. Equally, we thank all our new volunteers for just fitting in and picking up the reins so quickly and just fitting in with the team.

Again, our team that walks around the city centre was kept busy but managed to support everyone they came across and managed to cover most of the city centre.

Tonight we served an individual that ate his food a little too quickly and ended up choking. His other homeless friends panicked watching him struggle and smacking him on the back. Fortunately, we have a team of first aiders that made their way across to him to help him dislodge the food stuck in his throat. He was relieved, and he and his friend continued to thank us.

We spoke to several men in particular tonight that have just had enough of sleeping on the street and can’t face another winter of sleeping rough. We feel helpless but will do our best to do what we can, but we know there are no immediate homes available for these people. One individual failed his last tenancy, so the list he has now been placed on is 6 years long; he feels he may not make it. We just stand in front of him trying to find comforting words and then just walk away feeling sadness.

As a rule, we don’t hand out tents. Firstly, we don’t want to be seen as encouraging people to sleep rough. Second, this is something we have never spoken about, but several years ago we learnt of a young lady being attacked in her tent. That incident remains with us to this day, and we took the decision to not provide tents. But of late, we are being asked more and more for tents. Is this a decision we need to reconsider as things become tougher?

Tonight we learnt how important it is for us to continue supporting our homeless hostels in Leeds and Bradford, as we had a lot of meals donated today, and we visited an extra hostel, and the support staff told us the residents will be happy as they have been asking for food all night. So thank you to our team of volunteers that deliver meals into the hostels in Leeds and Bradford.

We are privileged to be able to support the food banks we do, as in collaborative working we are able to refer people to these food banks.

We are privileged to support St. Anne’s with the breakfast club, as together we can ensure our homeless community receives a hot breakfast five mornings a week, especially in the winter months.

This week we continued to donate beds and bedding to families.

Our thank you’s:

Steve for cooking a spicy bean stew as well as donating non perishable food.

Thank you to the Otley Carnival Stars for baking an abundance of cakes and biscuits; you really spoilt the people using our service tonight.

Thank you to Jo and family for donating homemade cakes, which the guys love.

Thank you, Sharon, for your continued support and donations of cake.

Once again, thank you to Helen for her homemade tomato soup. It’s just amazing as it helps warm people up, will they queue, and helps tackle a bit of their hunger.

Thank you, Kirsten; we are really grateful for all your support. Your chicken stew went down a treat. Again, thank you for the crumble, which we served with piping hot custard.

Thank you to the Leeds 11 Sikh temple for supporting us with meals every week.

Thank you to Ramgahria Sikh Temple for donating an additional meal, which helped us support an additional homeless hostel.

As always, thank you to Punjabi Heaven for donating curry and rice; it was really warm and enjoyed by all.

Thank you to Singh Restaurant for helping us support the homeless hostels and the B&B’s accommodating our homeless community.

Incredibly busy and cold, but thank you to everyone that supported us tonight.

Humbled by the support of our volunteers tonight, you all helped us to have a 167 people.

Just a busy Hampers week

Sunday 20th October 2024

The dark nights are really difficult, and tonight people were coming at us from all ends. The team did a brilliant job coordinating the queue. At the static kitchen, we supported 136 people, and our team that walked around the city supported 58 incredibly busy night.

A young lady we have supported for many years arrived as we set up really hungry, so rather than make her queue, we served her first. Witnessing the way she ate her meal, it showed she hadn’t eaten for a day or two. We know that this young lady will never not be homeless due to the trauma in her life; she’s been in care homes all her life and then a long life of sleeping rough. Regardless of her pass, she holds a very special place in our hearts, and we have a really soft spot for her. Equally, she is very protective of us. We have nothing but compassion for her.

Another individual again, a really lovely soul, always polite and respectful, and always wants a hug. He needed a coat and sleep bag. We worry about him as he is wheelchair bound. We found him the warmest coat, a hat, a scarf, and gloves. We helped him put on his coat, and he was pleased as he felt warm. He tells us he will be in a flat in two weeks; that’s the best news.

Some of the guys just really wanted to talk tonight, and it was nice to give them the time they needed. This individual was just deflated, and he is willing to take any support anyone would offer him. He felt the system is broken, and once he finds himself in a better place, he wants to work and build the broken relationship with his family. Again, he’s been homeless for several years. It was interesting listening to his point of view and how he felt the services could support him better and actually made a lot of sense due to his lived experience.

It’s been a busy week; this week we provided a double bed and fresh bedding to a gentleman.

We provided carpet for a young mother that has moved into a flat with her 2-year old child.

We provided a TV for a lady living in a homeless hostel, which she will take with her once she’s rehoused.

We were contacted by a lady accommodated in a hotel with her young son, struggling for food and having no cooking facilities. We put her in touch with a service that can support them both long-term. She visited us tonight to thank us, and we filled her bags with snacks just to get them by.

This we week supported 2 food banks and provided breakfast for the St Anne’s breakfast club.

All this was in collaboration, and we welcomed the support of the following:

Thank you to our teams that deliver meals into the homeless hostels and B&Bs in Leeds and Bradford.

Steve for cooking a spicy bean stew as well as donating non perishable food.

We now have several people baking delicious cakes and desserts for us. Thank you, Sharon, Jo, Elodie, Kerstin, and Linz; you really do put a lot of smiles on people’s faces.

Thank you to Brenda from Wrose Hill Chapel for all their home baking and donations of cakes.

Thank you, Catherine. We are really grateful for all your support. Your chicken stew went down a treat.

Thank you to Helen for her delicious homemade soup; the guys in the queue really appreciated it on a chilly night.

Thank you again to Monica for her homemade pepper and tomato soup. The team handed out the soup to people bedded down in the shop doorways.

Thank you to the Leeds 11 Sikh temple for supporting us with meals every week and just as important donating much needed disposable cups, containers, and cutlery.

As always, thank you to Punjabi Heaven for donating Dahl and Rice, which were really warm and enjoyed by all.

Thank you to Singh Restaurant for helping us support the homeless hostels and the B&B’s accommodating our homeless community.

Thank you to Store Manager Mazafar Hussain Bradford Tesco Express and Nsar

Bradford Otley Baildon Road Tesco Express for their donations of tinned, packet, and non perishable food, which will support us with our emergency food parcels.

Can we now take the time to thank everyone that has donated warm clothes, especially men’s coats. We wish we could mention you all individually.

Thank you to the Leeds Male Voice Choir for their donations of hats, gloves, socks, toiletries, confectionery, savoury snacks, and biscuits.

We would like to thank the staff and children at Summerfield Primary School for their collection of food for the Harvest Festival, which was all donated to Homeless Hampers. Equally, we humbly thank Burley Oaks Primary School, Burley in Wharfedale, for their amazing donation of non-perishable food.

St John’s in Menston collected £57 as part of their harvest festival celebration; we thank them for their kind donation.

Thank you to Johnson Hotel Linen for donating fresh bedding, duvets, and pillows; they always keep us well supplied. We distribute clean bedding to the hostels and to people moving into new homes and new beds.

Thank you to Alpkits for sending us 12 per owned sleeping bags that were handed in by their customers. We are glad these didn’t go into landfill.

A huge thank you to our volunteers for making each week possible; all your hard work is always appreciated. So often the people we support make the same comments, especially on nights like tonight.

Homeless Hampers a completely grassroots charity, hundreds percent run by volunteers, people are at the heart of our charity work.

Sunday 6th October 2024

The heavens did open on us tonight; people queuing were soaked through, and the team was drenched, but they remained in good spirits. We supported 111 people tonight.

Some of the homeless community were a bit unhappy with having to queue in the rain; we know it’s not us they are getting at us; it’s their circumstances, especially when they have to sleep out in this with wet clothes.

The first item that we completely ran out of tonight was men’s coats. We are heading towards winter, and we have very few men’s coats. We are desperate for men’s winter coats.

There was a new face in our queue tonight. We worked his way through the queue, ate his meal, and then came and stood under our gazebo. We asked him to move along as other people were waiting to be served. He became a bit hostile just for a few seconds, but something didn’t feel right, so we asked what he wanted, and he said just a hot coffee. Which we provided, he then told us he had only been homeless for 6 months, and he’s between two cities but struggling to get support in either. He became tearful, and we could see his struggle was real and he wanted to give up. We knew the right thing to do was to get him out of the cold, wet weather for tonight so we offered to pay for a hotel bed, but he refused as he knew there are others in the queue that are in the same position as he is in, but tonight we felt his need was greater. We finally talked him around by saying go have a warm shower and sleep in a dry, warm bed, and then tomorrow try again to access the support you need. He finally agreed; we packed him up warm dry clothes and our last coat, and we noticed he had a child’s rucksack; we replaced it with a larger backpack, and he gave us a tearful hug. There are some individuals that really touch us, and he was the one tonight; even coming away tonight made us feel worried for him.

We helped a family set up their new home this week. They have lived in temporary accommodation for some time; dad actually helped transport the furniture and appliances. The smile on his face was just magical as he saw his new home come together. Dad has offered to volunteer with us and offered to do all our heavy lifting. We really appreciate his offer, and it would be our privilege to have him volunteer with us.

This week we managed to offer food support to 3 food banks and 5 homeless hostels in Leeds and Bradford.

We provided breakfast items to the St Anne’s breakfast club and pizza for their Friday lunch club, a nice treat for the guys.

Who made our week possible:

Thank you to Karen for cooking up a hearty chicken casserole and a pasta bake always popular with our service users.

Thank you to Steve for his amazing continued support.

Thank you to the 2 Leeds Sikh temples for supporting us with meals.

Thank you to Punjabi Heaven for donating an abundance of food. We were able to fill takeaway containers so people had meals to see them through for a few days, your support is always appreciated.

Thank you to Singh Restaurant for helping us support the homeless hostels and the B&B’s accommodating our homeless community.

Thank you to Waddow Hall Trust for boxed cakes and cupcakes, and thank you, Sharon, for organising the collection.

Thank you to The Ilkley Kitchen Paneer Rolls. Really Indian Flapjacks—Tricky Dickies Sticky Toffee Pudding, quiches, and some pastries

A special mention to all the supermarkets, M&S, Sainsburys, and Morrisons, for their amazing food donations.

Another special thank you to the libraries that act as our collection points.

Thank you to the community of Burley in Wharfdale. Your donation has been really focused around the items we require urgently.

Together we will make a difference.

Sunday 22nd September 2024

A real chill in the air tonight, and our first evening of the year that ended in darkness, so we know winter is just around the corner.

There were a number of troubled women crying that visited us tonight.

One came to us begging us not to place her in the queue as she was really hungry. We explained that people start queuing 2 hours before we are due to arrive, and it would be unfair for her to jump the queue. She started crying as she was concerned we would run out of food. We assured her we had plenty of food and if we ran out we would buy her a meal. We actually stood in the queue with her talking to her and reassuring her. Once at the front of the queue, we walked with her through the queue as she made her food choice. She then took her food and sat in a doorway eating the meal as fast as she possibly could. We spent some time talking to her, and it turned out she hadn’t eaten for two days.

The second had fled her home south of the country, leaving behind a violent relationship. She’s had a bit of trouble getting the support she needs. After talking to her, we released part of this is due to her not knowing how to access the support she requires. We spent some time providing vital information. We then provided her with food, clothing and a sleeping bag so she could find a safe place to bed down. We have asked her to access the services and we will follow her up. We know her mental health isn’t great, but tonight she just needed time to sit and for someone to just listen to her. Sadly, she had thoughts of committing a crime, so she didn’t have to be homeless. Which we strongly advise her against doing.

We supported 188 people this evening. People continued to arrive as we finished packing the van at the end of the evening. We ran out of hot meals, but provided sandwiches and pastries. When we arrived at the start of the night, we had 5 people queuing. Our thoughts were it might be a quiet night, but we assumed wrong. Our team of volunteers were amazing, and we had a number of new volunteers.

We support 2 food banks this week. We are so pleased to hear that the support we offer is making a difference.

We delivered food support to 8 homeless hostels and a B&B that accommodates our home community.

Who helped make tonight possible:

Steve for cooking a spicy bean stew as well as donating non non-perishable food.

Thank you to Kirsten, Jo, Saul, Elodie, Niamh, Linz, and Sharon for wholesome baking. The guys really were spoiled for choice tonight.

Thank you to Julie for supplementing drinks for our street homeless community, something they ask us for all the time.

Thank you, Karen, for cooking a chicken stew for the guys for the first time. They really enjoyed it.

Thank you to the Leeds 11 Sikh temple for supporting us with meals every week and, just as importantly, donating much needed disposable cups, containers and cutlery.

As always, thank you to Punjabi Heaven for donating chicken curry and a spinach and paneer curry really enjoyed by all.

Thank you to the congregation of the LDS Church for making up the sandwiches for our Sunday nights.

Thank you to Bal for donating pot noodles, water, flavored drinks, crisps, chocolates and sweet snacks.

Thank you to the Sharma family for their generous donations as they always provided tuna, sweetcorn and pasta meals, drinks and snack packs. An unexpected donation, but one that was really needed with the number of attendances.

Thank you to our team of volunteers that collect and sort our donations. This week we have had 27 backpacks donated. These are really appreciated by our street homeless community as it, helps them keep their belongings safe.

Thank you to Singh restaurant for helping us support the homeless hostels and the B&B’s accommodating our homeless community.

Team Hampers

Sunday 1st September 2024

It’s telling times when 193 people accessed our service tonight. 130 people queued for a hot meal, and our team that walked around the city centre came across 63 people. There was a time that we came across 63 people in total on a Sunday evening; sadly, every week we are seeing these numbers increase. Several of our regular street homeless community committed on how many new faces they are seeing.

Not everyone that visits us is street homeless, some are in temporary accommodation, and some are sofa surfing or sleeping on a friend’s floor. There are also people with homes that can’t afford to buy food, so they access our support. Sadly, we know we shouldn’t exist, but we hope we are a lifeline to those that need us.

Tonight the night turned darker sooner than our previous Sunday, which means the dreaded winter is on its way. After nearly 9 years of Homeless Hampers, these are the nights we and our Homeless community find difficult. It’s hard knowing that after a cold night, we are returning home to a warm house while people sleep in shop doorways and on cold pavements.

This week we would like to thank Jess at Swinnow Morrison’s for donating us 2 cages of desperately needed food for our food parcels. We were also able to support the North Leeds Food Bank and the Meanwood community hub.

Our wonderful team continues to deliver food donations into the homeless hostels 7 days a week in Leeds and Bradford. We also provided hygiene packs, as many people arrive in the hostels with nothing.

Our support for the homeless breakfast club continued, and another week we have provided food support to keep the breakfast club open.

Thank you to everyone that donated the items we mentioned last week, your support helps us to support the people we do.

Thank you to Catherine for cooking up a hearty chicken casserole always popular with our service users.

As always, thank you to the Woods for donating pizza; the guys love your pizza. You have been supporting us for nearly two years.

Thank you to Steve for his amazing continued support.

Thank you to the Leeds 11 Sikh temple for supporting us with meals.

Thank you to Punjabi Heaven for donating a delicious butter chicken curry and rice, the guys loved it.

Thank you to Singh Restaurant for helping us support the homeless hostels and the B&B’s accommodating our homeless community.

Thank you to Jo, Elodie, Saul, Tony, and Kirsten for the delicious home baking we served with cream.

Thank you to Penny for donating boxes of cake and bread. Your support really helped us to help a lot of people.

Thank you to Bradford Tesco’s for donating us a box of Club Bar; the guys always love chocolate.

A special thank you to the Bachu family for their generous donation of hot meals, milk, and sugar.

We are so grateful for all the support, as it made tonight possible.

A special mention to all the supermarkets, M&S, Sainsburys, and Morrisons, for their amazing food donations.

Thank you to our team that organised the fundraiser at the Chapel Allerton Festival yesterday we raised £605.86 also like to mention Jo Pallan and Kymmy for organising the face painting and glitter tattoos for youngsters and grown ups.

As always, we would like to thank our selfless volunteers.

Together we will make a difference.