For the vast majority of the population, Covid-19 has meant hardship and restriction. But for the 256 people who were living on Newham’s streets before lockdown, it has provided a lifeline.
“It’s hard to say it, but Covid has brought much needed action to get people off the streets,” says Lorraine Tabone, founder of the award-winning Lola’s Homeless. “And if we can find homes for people in this crisis, then we should find permanent homes for them.”
Lola’s Homeless works closely with Newham Council’s team and as a member of the Mayor’s task force Lorraine has the ear of politicians. She has a knack for cutting through bureaucracy to get things done and is respected for her down to earth approach that produces results, although she is keen to recognise that she couldn’t do it without the team or the support of her family.
Forty volunteers have worked closely with rough sleepers in Newham for the past five years, particularly around the Stratford Centre. Since lockdown in March, the work has changed. Instead of distributing food, blankets and much needed advice on the streets, they are now visiting people in hotels and hostels to provide essentials such as groceries, crockery, cutlery and even microwave ovens. It’s a change that Lorraine welcomes whole-heartedly as she witnesses the difference accommodation can make to individuals who are in a much better environmentto turn their lives around.
One of her strengths is that Lorraine started Lola’s Homeless with a colleague after a period of homelessness herself. She had put it behind her, but then encountered a homeless woman in Stratford. “I was looking out of the window in Marks and Spencer’s café when I noticed a green blanket bundle on the ground below. It moved and I realised there was a person there, so I went to speak to her. She gave me the determination to get her things that she needed, stuff that is not available to homeless women – toiletries and sanitary products. It started from there.”
Five years later, Lorraine is looking to Newham Council to help strengthen the service by providing Lola’s Homeless with its own home. Currently, goods are stored at Lorraine’s flat and garage in Canning Town.
She said:
We desperately need a building,At the moment people have to wait for us to go to them, either on the street or currently in hotels and hostels. If they knew they could come to us, it would make a huge difference. Being homeless is high risk, people get into situations where they need to find us urgently and we want to be able to provide that. We have a huge range of skills in our team and we would be able to offer much more support if we had a building. There are plenty of empty buildings in Newham, so come on Newham Council, let us put one to very good use.”
A special gathering was held outside the Memorial Community Church on Barking Road to remember the homeless people who died during the year, particularly Kelly Stewart, 41, who was murdered in the grounds of the church in March.
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