Wigan homelessness charity on Covid-19 demands and fund-raising campaign

The charity has not just faced financial difficulties, with social distancing and other Covid safety requirements leading to changes in working practices and concerns growing about the impact of the pandemic on residents in the borough.

The new campaign is centred around a poem written by Wigan Council employee Matt Kelly who is rapidly gaining a reputation for his way with words after verses he wrote about the NHS in the first lockdown went viral.

In something of a coup for The Brick well-known comedian and actor Johnny Vegas agreed to read Matt’s poem, which is called A Soul Like Yours, as the voice-over for a campaign video.

The cash appeal comes at the end of a year which has thrown enormous challenges at many people and organisations, and The Brick is no exception.

CEO Louise Green said: “With a lot of businesses closing due to Covid social services like ours have had to ramp it up. We’ve been extremely busy.

“We’ve had to react to things quite a bit rather than being able to do forward planning, and that can be quite difficult.

“We’ve stepped up to the challenges of Covid. We have been maintaining our services, obviously with social distancing, and we’ve got increased bed space in Wigan and Leigh for over winter.

“When this first hit in March we made decisions like furloughing staff very quickly, and that meant we didn’t dig too much into our reserves.

“It was in October when the situation finally hit us. We should have had our gala and the big street sleep couldn’t happen this year. Our shops were also closed again for the second lockdown and we knew we had to do something to make sure we’re in a healthy position for winter, the worst period of the year for rough sleeping.

“All charities are struggling and I hate the fact that we have to ask for more money, especially in the run-up to Christmas, but the Wigan and Leigh community is extremely generous in supporting us and any donation will help to keep The Brick going.”

At the start of the pandemic The Brick moved service users out of unsuitable accommodation, such as shared premises, and formed a ground-breaking partnership arrangement to set up a hub under one roof at The Mercure Hotel in Wigan.

Louise said everyone having their own room at the hotel, as well as a necessary health precaution in a pandemic, also fitted well into The Brick’s three stage process of relief. restoration and reformation.

It also moved out of its Wigan town centre base as the office could not support social distancing easily, with services now mainly based at the St George’s Centre on Water Street where the foodbank runs.

Changes have also had to be made to the way the staff have operated in their day-to-day roles.

One person who knows this well is Paul, who now works for The Brick after initially coming to them as a service user.

Paul, who previously ran a string of businesses but whose life went downhill due to cocaine addiction and battles with mental illness, said: “It has been nice to carry on working. Recovery is a lifetime thing and you need that structure.

“In the early part of the pandemic we had to do things over the phone, wearing full PPE if we went out to see someone.

“Things were slowly going back to normal until the second lockdown.

“The Brick does well at moving with the times, adapting to what is happening.

“The work is so important. Homelessness, sadly, is becoming more apparent and visible. Without the support of organisations like The Brick people would be left on the streets.

"With Covid we’ve got people with no experience of mental health problems feeling that isolation kick in, and anybody is only a couple of paycheques or a financial crisis away from a homelessness situation.”

The new campaign is based around the words of Matt, a service manager for the council’s streets and parks team whose poem about the NHS which he sent via text message to his partner struck such a chord on social media that it ended up being read out for the BBC by actor Christopher Eccleston.

He also wrote a poem for a men’s mental health charity but then decided he wanted his writing to financially benefit a good causes.

The idea of his poem A Soul Like Yours is that homelessness is caused by structural problems, not personal or moral failings, and to reflect on the inequalities and disadvantages that can cause people to struggle in life.

Matt said: “I really wanted to do my best on this complex and difficult subject.

“I knew that coming up to Christmas The Brick was struggling so I hoped if I could write something that would help. What I love about The Brick is that it’s not just about a bed or a meal.

“It’s really about looking at each individual as a person who has a story and then putting together a unique package to help them to get them off the streets. It’s not just about that first night, it’s about the rest of their lives.

“We were overwhelmed when Johnny Vegas said he would read the poem out for the video.

“He reads it with such passion, it’s really beautiful. We were humbled by the outpouring of kind words when we launched the video.”

Louise says this idea of tailored support is extremely important, with The Brick using asset coaches and giving people the opportunities to step out of their comfort zones and try activities they feel they would be good at.

She also completely endorsed the message of Matt’s poem, suggesting that Wiganers who were unable to donation to The Brick could still help the organisation by watching the video and spreading its ideas.

Some of The Brick’s 64-strong team have only just come back from furlough, with the charity shops re-opening at the end of the second lockdown when Wigan went into Tier 3.

Louise spoke of the toll this year has taken on everyone involved with the charity.

She said: “It has been tough for everyone, including the senior leadership team. We know staff are working tirelessly and we worry about them burning out.

“Through Covid they haven’t been getting a good work-life balance. I’m hoping that when we come out of this at the other end we can concentrate on getting them the balance they deserve.”

To donate or find out more, visit www.justgiving.com/campaign/asoullikeyours

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