Eliz Hopkins

Your Guide to the Household Support Fund in the West Midlands Combined Authority

What is the Household Support Fund (HSF)? The Household Support Fund (HSF) is a fantastic initiative aimed at helping people who are struggling with housing-related costs. Whether it’s rent, utility bills, or essential household items, the HSF is here to provide a helping hand. It’s managed by local councils within the West Midlands Combined Authority […]

Caring Christmas: A Warm Welcome This Holiday Season

Are you facing a tough time this Christmas? Walsall is holding a special event called Caring Christmas especially for families and individuals who are struggling financially or feeling alone during the holidays. What is Caring Christmas? Caring Christmas is a warm and welcoming event where you can connect with others, enjoy a delicious free meal, […]

Homeless Persons’ memorial event – Birmingham

Last week I had the privilege of attending an event held in the Birmingham Peace Gardens to remember those who had died whilst experiencing homelessness.  I joined around fifty people in the snow-scatter Peace Gardens to mark this first-of-its-kind memorial. Around me were friends and family of those who had died, lead workers, homelessness sector […]

A Hand Up, Not a Hand Out – Spotlight on Big Issue Birmingham and West Midlands

There cannot be many people in the UK who have never seen or heard of the Big Issue. Maybe you have seen one of the thousands of vendors selling the latest issue on high streets up and down the UK; maybe you have purchased one, or have a subscription.  Founded in 1991, the Big Issue […]

Vision Care  – Free Sight tests for adults experiencing homelessness in Birmingham 

by Eliz Hopkins, West Midlands Coordinator for Street Support Network It’s a Monday morning at the homelessness support centre, SIFA Fireside in Birmingham, where I have popped in to learn more about the partnership between SIFA Fireside and Vision Care for Homeless People.  The charity, SIFA Fireside, is the main homeless navigator service in Birmingham […]

Become a Home-2-Home Host with St Basils

Transform Lives:  Become a Home-2-Home Host with St Basils St Basils, a leading charity dedicated to reducing youth homelessness, is calling on individuals with a spare room and a caring heart to join our Home-2-Home Supported Lodgings scheme. This transformative program places young people aged 16-18 (occasionally older) who have experienced family breakdowns into the […]

Change Into Action – Donate now to help this winter

Change into Action is the online giving platform in the West Midlands that supports vulnerable people and can act as an alternative to giving cash to people begging on the streets.  Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council works in partnership with multiple organisations such as CHADD and Dudley CVS to ensure that the money is used to […]

Foodcycle Appeals for Volunteers to Help at new Community Meal in Coventry

A charity that aims to tackle food poverty, loneliness and food waste, is appealing for volunteers to help turn surplus food into delicious dishes, at a new community meal launched in Coventry. FoodCycle needs more volunteers to help provide free weekly hot lunches for regular guests in a friendly and welcoming atmosphere, every Wednesday at […]

Spotlight on Adavu

by Liisa Wiseman, Director Modern slavery and homelessness often go hand-in-hand, with homelessness frequently being a significant contributing factor to people becoming victims of trafficking, as well survivors being more at risk of ending up homeless. As the homelessness charity, The Passage, states  “We have found that homelessness is a common denominator in the issue […]

Find a Place of Welcome in Dudley

The Places of Welcome movement has been growing rapidly across the UK including having a presence in over 15 locations in the Dudley local authority area.The settings for the Place of Welcome are often already established community centres, coffee mornings, libraries etc that have chosen to become part of the network. A Place of Welcome […]