The Archer Project, a Sheffield-based charity, has campaigned to increase awareness and combat the negative public perception of homelessness.
The charity, based behind Sheffield Cathedral, has provided immediate and long-term support for the homeless community, from daily meals and clothes to help them find full-time employment.
Lucy Wilks, Events and Corporate Partnership Officer at the Archer Project, said: “We have been able to support a significant number of people in re-engaging with society, and I think the most rewarding part of my job is being able to see people progress through our service.
“They usually come in where they come off from the streets, they might have been able to volunteer with us and then hopefully, they manage to achieve paid work separate from the charity.
“It’s fulfilling, and I think the biggest accomplishment of the charity is just to support we’ve given and witnessed so many people go through those stages.”
The Archer Project receives 70-90 (particularly in the winter months) people a day who need different levels of support.
Ms Wilks said: “I would say that homelessness is often forgotten, and some people don’t know how to interact with them.
“A lot of the work we do is around changing those perceptions, of people with whom we work. We also aim to challenge people’s attitudes around addiction issues.
According to Government statistics, there were an estimated 270 homeless people in Sheffield in a given night in 2022
Ms Wilks said: “A significant portion of the people we work with have experienced some sort of trauma, like childhood trauma or adverse experiences.
“We want to get the message out that it can happen to anyone, it can be a chain of events that causes anyone to be homeless because of a breakdown in marriage, a loss of a job or mental health We can see with the cost-of-living crisis that more and more people need our help. Therefore, we want to change the stereotypes and the views that people have about homelessness.”
The Archer projects have also created two social enterprises that have gradually integrated homeless people back into society with Just Clean and Printed by Us.
Just Clean is a cleaning business run by the project that only employs vulnerable people who have gone through their scheme, which works in various locations around Sheffield, cleaning offices and homes. Printed by US
Printed by Us, is a print business that haw one awards for the work with the homeless, has a store in Orchard Square, and the charity plans to open a pop-up one in Meadowhall, to increase employment opportunities.
To raise further awareness, the CEO, Tim Renshaw, published the book ’14 Nights’, last week.
The book documented his experience of sleeping rough on the streets of Sheffield for two weeks, which he published on their website on a daily blog.
The blog reached many people, who followed daily, and after popular demand, the charity published the book accompanied by stories of people who were supported by the charity.
Ms Wilks said: “We often refer it to be Tim’s book, but as Tim rightly says, it’s the Archer project’s book because we have so many valuable stories that homeless people have worked with.”
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