Students Help Liverpool’s Homeless

In the reception area of a student accommodation building, a Christmas tree has a series of presents nestling underneath it, ranging from advent calendars to toiletries and tins of beans, reports the Liverpool Echo.

These gifts at Albert Court on London Road in the city centre are not for display. All the items there are headed for The Whitechapel Centre, one of Liverpool’s largest homeless charities which is based nearby.

Students Jack Beckett and David John-Comrie, both 21, are two of the residents who have donated items. Though they feel relatively protected from the ongoing cost of living crisis, the final year students at John Moores University remain worried about their future and the amount of homeless people they see around their city centre residence. David said: “I think it hasn’t affected us mostly because we don’t have to pay energy bills here. But it’s affected our food shopping – I’ve seen prices go up. I used to go food shopping every fortnight and it used to be £80, now it’s gone up to £110. It just makes us feel anxious about the coming future now. That’s what we’re going to deal with now, if the cost of living crisis is still continuing.”

David said seeing homeless people in town convinced him to help out. He said: “You see homelessness quite a lot. It affects you – you think, I could be in that situation. Then you think, I need to help out, because I might want that help if it was me.” Jack said: “It’s definitely helped that our bills are included here but you can see the difference. I had to get a job in my second year to be able to do the things I wanted to do.”

He added: “In the first year, you had spare money when your student loan came in. This time, it’s definitely changed. Homelessness is not the best thing to see, you do what you can to help. I know there’s lots of charities out there as well which help with housing and I always try to get involved when I see stuff like that.”

The pair believe it’s important for those who come from outside Liverpool to engage with the local community and important causes. Jack, from south London, said: “Moving away from home, you lose the connections you have with the local community. But when you want to move up here, you can join in with stuff like this. It sort of feels a bit like home as well.” David, from south Wales, said: “It feels like you’ve got to help out the community now, because you’ve been living here for three years.”

Lyndsey Murphy, the assistant manager at Albert Court, which is owned by Campus Living Villages, is from Liverpool and is delighted that newcomers to the city are recognising the importance of donations. Lyndsey and other staff at Albert Court came up with the idea to support The Whitechapel Centre over Christmas. Lyndsey said: “Where we are based is London Road, it’s probably one of the most deprived areas in Liverpool when it comes to homelessness and The Whitechapel Centre is just around the corner. We were getting ready for Christmas time and we came up with the idea of a drop off point and get all our students involved.”

She added: “A lot of our students are across the globe. Some of them will have to stay here for Christmas. What the staff have done is, instead of doing a secret Santa, we’ve actually put the money in to go and buy some hats, scarfs and things like that.”

Lyndsey, Jack and David all enjoy life on London Road, with its wide range of supermarkets and close proximity to town, but are also committed to improving it. Lyndsey said she has seen London Road change drastically over the years. She said: “It used to be a very popular shopping destination, because you had your T. J. Hughes’ and your big outside markets Now it has changed. You’ve got your different, diverse shops and have more choices. But there’s quite a lot of homelessness here than other places in the city centre.”

Albert Court is located at 211 London Road. The Whitechapel Centre is located on Langsdale Street close by.