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Some of our clients find themselves with no food at all …

6th January 2022

Gwen Williams is the sort of person who sets out to solve a problem when she sees one.

She has been a housing officer at St Ignatius, a charity which provides accommodation and support to single vulnerable adults in Haringey, since 2020. Gwen’s role is to look after the properties which provide temporary homes for the charity’s clients, many of whom have been street homeless. But, she says, she can’t help getting involved with clients when she sees they have a problem which needs sorting.

“Some of them have such problems,” she says, “and they can find themselves with no food at all.”

Many of them don’t know how to budget, she explains. “They’re very vulnerable, can be pressured by others, taken advantage of and find they have no money for food.”

When Gwen realised this, she contacted Muswell Hill foodbank which delivers food for St Ignatius tenants, providing a vital safety net.

“I make it clear to them, it’s not their shopping list and it has to be a last resort. It’s proved invaluable though.”

Gwen’s tenants range in age from 19 to 65 years old. While those in the 19 to 30 age range are most likely to have been street homeless, older women have often suffered abuse and relationship breakdown.

The numbers of clients have increased since welfare reforms which introduced the cap on housing benefit, the bedroom tax and the rule that under 35s can only live in shared accommodation if they’re claiming housing benefit. These reforms have also impacted the availability of private rented accommodation as landlords are reluctant to rent to people on benefits. This in turn makes the work of St Ignatius harder, says Gwen, as the charity aims to rehouse its clients in the private sector after around a year when they’ve had a lot of support to find work and sort out their problems.

Gwen says her clients have complex needs. She gives a recent example of a client with serious mental health issues who is living in a shared house but is desperate to live alone and to leave London and could become violent. But referring someone to another service can take a long time, she says. “It’s a stressful situation and very hard,” she says.

“But on the other side of the coin, when they’ve been with us for a while, have taken part in all the support that’s offered and are able to find a permanent home, that is very rewarding. Yes, that does happen with the majority.”

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