An initial plan to host a breakfast club at the Young Person’s Centre on Terry Street in Hull proved to be even more rewarding than the scheme’s support staff anticipated.

Staff at the service for homeless 17-25 year-olds began a daily breakfast club between 7.30 and 9am. Residents of the scheme could grab a hot drink and cereal or toast, especially those on training or going to college.

However, it was proving difficult to manage. Support workers realised that some residents, who didn’t need to rush off to school or leave for training, would have three or four bowls of cereal and leave nothing for those who had to head out at specific times.

After speaking with the residents, staff were able to set up a solution that everyone agreed upon; packed lunches for clients that had to leave in the mornings.

Those residents leaving early in the morning would book their lunch the night before, and collect it on the way out. They each get a sandwich, bag of crisps, biscuit and a drink every morning to get them through the day.

This has been much more successful, with some of the homeless residents saying that it is often the only thing they get to eat all day. For some, lunch at their college or workplace meant watching everyone around them eat while they sat there, empty-handed.

Staff have even checked each resident’s dietary requirements in order to prepare their lunches, and this has been greatly appreciated.

Something as simple as making sure you have lunch for a long day helps transform attitudes and keeps people positive, energised and healthy.

To fund more extras that help homeless people get through the day-to-day steps that turn their lives around, please donate to us.