Bellies full of hope

Salisbury isn’t necessarily a community you’d think is plagued by homelessness but that’s because it’s often invisible. Look beyond the town’s picturesque veneer and you’ll find many people down on their luck just struggling to survive.

 
Christmas can be the hardest time of the year for those sleeping rough – for at least two days, almost everything is closed. So if you find yourself homeless and without any provisions; if you find yourself ill, you’re literally and figuratively left out in the cold.

 
That’s why Unite Community member Jessica McCarnun decided to launch a project that would give homeless people in the Salisbury area a safe, warm place to stay on Christmas Day, as well as some of the things many of us take for granted – Christmas dinner, breakfast on Boxing Day, haircuts, washing facilities and medical assistance.

 
Jessica, who assists vulnerable people fighting appeals on injustices such as the Bedroom Tax, came up with the idea when one individual she was supporting was ill and didn’t have anywhere to go on Christmas Day.

 
“I thought to myself, what will he and others like him do over Christmas, when everything is closed?” Jessica said.

 
“That’s when we started organising the event,” she explained. “The event was confirmed only 36 hours before Christmas Day, but the response we got from the local community – from businesses as well as individuals – was overwhelming.”

 
Collectively, the project, called the Full Bellies Project, gave out £3,000 worth of food at the event hosted at St. Gregory’s Church Hall. One local provider donated dozens of turkey crowns worth £42 each as well as beef joints priced at £30 each.

 
Lifesaving
For one man, the Full Bellies Project was nothing short of lifesaving.

 
Jake Murphy had been homeless off and on for more than a decade. This Christmas was a particularly tough one for Jake – he had a serious foot infection and was at risk of septicaemia if he did not get treatment soon. And as winter approached, he found himself living in a cemetery in Bishopdown.

 
Jessica bumped into him and offered him a leaflet detailing the Full Bellies Christmas event.

 
“As soon as I walked through the door, the welcome was great,” he told the Salisbury Journal. “It was like being part of a family for once. We all sat down and had a meal; it wasn’t a case of us and them. No one looked down their nose at me, or asked why I was there. We played games afterwards and I had the best night’s sleep.”

 
Jake was given basic first aid by Unite industrial member Guy James, a St. James ambulance volunteer who attended the Christmas Day event.

Jake Murphy enjoys a Christmas meal, a wash, haircut and a safe place to stay thanks to the Full Bellies Project.

 
Guy lives in Tolpuddle, and works for an agricultural animal feed company in the Dorset area. Heavily involved in the union, Guy is the branch secretary for the Unite Tolpuddle transport, food and agricultural branch, and has also served as shop steward and health and safety officer.

 
Each year, Guy volunteers at the Tolpuddle Martyrs’ Festival. And that’s how he first met Jessica, almost two years ago.

 
Like-minded
“We immediately hit it off – we were like-minded people and have kept in touch ever since,” he said. “When she told me about the Full Bellies Project, I was immediately interested in being involved.”

 
Guy helped delivered food and used his first aid skills to help James with his foot and transported him to hospital.

 
“I arrived on Christmas Eve and stayed – I thought it was about time that I gave my own time to others in need,” he explained. “The project changed my life. It really put things in perspective. I suffer from many illnesses but volunteering made me realise that my lot is really not so bad – I have family and friends who will support me; I have a job.”

 
Jessica, Guy and others who’d volunteered for the Full Bellies Project decided that they could not stop their work after Christmas – there were still so many people in the community who needed help.

 
“Because of the incredible response we got from the community at such short notice, and because we still have so much work to do to help our clients, we’ve decided to expand the Full Bellies Project from an annual Christmas event to a free support network that operates year round,” Jessica said.

 
The Full Bellies Project is entirely open access – unlike many homeless charities, users don’t need referrals. Jessica explained the many ways in which the project is providing assistance to people in Salisbury who’ve fallen through the cracks.

 
“Most people don’t realise that vulnerable people face so many obstacles in getting the support they need – such as obtaining identification so that their housing benefit can be processed,” Jessica noted.

 
“With social services stretched to the bone, there’s a real need for the sort of mediation with local authorities that Full Bellies provides, from obtaining identification to liaising with hospitals and so on.”

 
Guy agreed.

 
Support

“There is support available for homeless people, but what makes Full Bellies unique is that volunteers actually go out into the community and directly offer help,” he said. “Most services for the homeless expect users to come to them.”

 
With the help of volunteers and funding – Full Bellies is in the process of setting up a Community Interest Company – Jessica hopes to expand the project, eventually taking it nationwide.

 
Guy was so impressed by the Christmas Day event in Salisbury that he has decided to continue working with Jessica to expand the project.

 
“If it were up to me, I’d quit my job right now and work for the Full Bellies Project full-time,” he said. “That’s what I’d like to do eventually.”

 
As for Jake, thanks to the Full Bellies Project, he was able to secure emergency accommodation at Alabare Place, a guest house for Salisbury’s homeless. Because of his medical condition, they allowed him to stay longer than the usual five days, and have now guaranteed him the next open permanent room.

 
The Full Bellies Project has also assisted him in coordinating his foot surgery, and he’s now on his way to a full recovery.

 
“[The Project] saved my life,” Jake told the Salisbury Journal. “Simple as that.”

 
For more information on how you can get involved, visit the Full Bellies Project Facebook page or its website here.