Our speaker on Wednesday 07 April 2021 was Kirsty Purnell of St Mungo’s (https://www.mungos.org/). Before Kirsty spoke to the Club we had reports on the welfare of our members, and news on the progress being made with Covid-19 vaccinations in the Club.
Kirsty then addressed the Club setting out the origins and the work of St Mungo’s. The main goal of the charity is helping people rebuild their lives – especially those sleeping rough and living on the streets.
In principle, there are three groups of services that they offer. There are their Emergency Services for those that are in dire need, there are the Accommodation Services so that people have a chance to come off the streets, and there are the Recovery Services – run through a series of Recovery Colleges – that help people rebuild their lives through education, training and coaching, from job finding to settled employment.
Once their work is done, they provide a Keeping In Touch Service that ensures that the progress the clients have made does not dwindle away.
Kirsty had many facts and figures to hand, illustrating how their work had been progressing before the pandemic, and how it had changed as a result of Covid-19. She also took time to introduce the Club to the Street Link Service (https://www.streetlink.london) which provides excellent support in the capital.
