Milford charity: local campaigners to help the homeless

LOCAL campaigners, Sara and Peter Hurley, are about to launch a local charity, whose working title is ‘Feed the Homeless’. Statistics from July of last year (published by the Joseph Rowntree Organisation) stated that in Wales, the numbers of those officially accepted as statutory homeless by criteria set down by the National Assembly and UK Government was just under 5300. Of those, 860 (16.8 percent) were homeless due to a violent break up of a relationship and a further 1100 (22 percent) were due to friends, parents or relatives no longer being able to accommodate them. The Herald spoke exclusively with the Milford couple to find out what the purpose of the charity was, and how they hoped to launch it in Milford Haven.

Sara Hurley explained: “This idea came about just before Christmas after a lady on Facebook had spoken about giving money to those selling the Big Issue, and I said you are better off finding a rough sleeper and buy them a hot drink or a sandwich. “I don’t know that there are enough people in Milford itself to warrant just feeding them. I think we are going to have to look at other people; there are a lot of people who work who are even more hard-up than those on benefits.

“Also, there are a lot of isolated lonely people and I want to reach out to them as well. If they are financially able and they’ve come along to us and had a nice meal we could have a voluntary contribution box. This could feed someone else who has absolutely nothing”. She went on to explain what was required to make the venture succeed: “What I desperately need at the moment are premises. “I have a meeting here next week, and anyone who might have something to contribute should contact me. Many people have already come forward to offer support. Bakers could help; yesterday’s bread is today’s croutons or bread pudding. If you are sleeping rough you need something to warm you up and keep you going for the day.

“I am not going into this with rose tinted glasses. I know these people have problems and we would deal with that as these things arise.” The Herald asked how many people she thought were sleeping rough in the Milford area, to which she continued: “I have emailed Pembrokeshire Action for the Homeless, but nobody really knows how many people are sleeping rough.

“What I do know is that, from the end of March to the beginning of November, people who are not priority needs are not given temporary accommodation. If you didn’t have anywhere to sleep you would be sleeping rough. “No one wants to be identified as isolated and lonely so we need to find a way to get those people in as well as the homeless. We aren’t offering the same service as Patch, for example, we are not giving out food parcels, we would be actually feeding them. “If you give a homeless person a box of food how will they cook it? I have a chef who can cook.” Sara went on to explain how they would find the people to come to the centre, once it is up and running:

“We will have to go out, find them and approach them, and hopefully they’ll spread the word themselves. Hopefully Patch can tell us places where people do sleep rough.” The Herald was interested to know why Pembrokeshire County Council was not providing this service, to which she responded: “I am not critical of the Council as they have hard budget restraints and they supply the minimum service by law. They haven’t got the money to put all these people up in bed and breakfasts.

The help they are obliged to give is primarily advice, even if they have put them on a list (for housing). There is no obligation to give people sustenance. “Our next step is to find premises, and we are meeting someone next week who will assist in this. The premises don’t need to be big, but we will need a working kitchen. If someone could donate this it would be great. “We are looking to the private sector and have invited local councillors to a meeting we are having next Thursday, and some have said they will come, Peter Stock, for example.” Sara said that if anyone wanted to help out or get involved they could contact her on 01646 694364.