The cost of living crisis is showing no signs of abating right across the country and the impact on people in Liverpool has been stark already.
It was revealed last month that thousands of people are seeking support to pay for food, clothing and rent. Figures from Liverpool Council show that from April to August this year, the demand for crisis payments from the Liverpool Citizen Support Scheme - which makes emergency payments to people for food, clothing and white goods, are up by almost 30% compared to the same period last year, with 8,500 applications.
Some people though have found they can’t even access those help and support networks and are forced to sleep rough. According to one person doing what they can to give help to those who need it most, the number of people struggling in our city is sadly continuing to rise.
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Charlotte Patterson, from Mossley Hill, volunteers every Wednesday with the Sunday Supper Project, handing out hot meals and providing necessities to those who have little or nothing at all. The 30-year-old provides help alongside her friends Corinne Ciuraj, 26, and Jessica Healey, 23, who started a volunteer group in her kitchen back in 2014.
Since the onset of covid-19, Charlotte said the amount of people requiring support and having to sleep on the streets has “increased massively.” She said: “We have noticed an influx of people recently, and it is bound to increase after the rising cost of living. Not only this, but it is not just people who are already on the streets suffering; there are so many people who are deciding whether they freeze or go hungry.
“A lot of people we’ve spoken to say they sleep during the day because it's safer. Some of them we see have been housed by the Whitechapel or Liverpool Council but then have to use the money they have to buy food and it doesn’t go far.
“Last week we spoke to a woman who hadn’t eaten because her kids needed food. She felt guilty taking help from us because she wasn’t on the street but everyone deserves the right to eat.
“We’re seeing a lot of new faces, particularly in young people between 18 and 25, and girls too.” In a bid to give something back, the trio spent the night stepping into the shoes of a rough sleeper, by staging a 24-hour sleep out in Liverpool city centre.
Limited to just £3, about the average someone on the streets tends to live on, the women spent the day simply trying to get by. Charlotte said: “The idea behind this was to know what it's like to go to sleep in this city of ours, wake up and wonder how we will be able to have breakfast, and how hard it is to be out on the streets with pennies to our names.”
Writing on Instagram, Charlotte, from Mossley Hill, documented how their night in the cold on Parker Street, managed to surprise her. She said: “Being in their shoes has taught me that there are so many amazing people in our city, who open their doors to our most helpless but it has also taught me even more how unsafe it is to be on the streets.
“The reason we couldn’t sleep is because we were worried when people walked past. We felt constantly uneasy (everyone was friendly who did approach us). However, we noticed a massive difference when we made our way to a doorway to sleep.
“People wouldn’t even look at us, even though we were three girls. Nobody should have to result to this. But I have to say we were opened with open arms by so many people in our city, and with more people like this they’ll be less people in the doorways of this city.
"Homelessness is our city should not be a thing, food and heating poverty in our city should not be a thing. Nobody in our city, or this country should be ashamed of their situation, that lies at the feet of the powers above.
“What this day has taught me is, if we come together, we can make such a difference for the most vulnerable.” The sleepout managed to raise almost £3,500 for the Sunday Supper Project, Fans Supporting Foodbanks and The Home Is Where The Heart Is charities.
In a bid to continue supporting those who are struggling, Charlotte said she is taking part in a sleepout held at Goodison Park, organised by Everton in the Community, with a goal to hit £4,000 for the three charities.
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