Our beginnings in the early 90s were in supporting those on the margins. From distributing food in UK soup kitchens – meals for the homeless – to pioneering projects for redistribution of furniture, food, and clothing to the poor and also those in need overseas. Our homeless street outreach and life planning advice led us into advocating local and central Government, becoming a voice for the voiceless.
25 years on and the landscape of social deprivation in the UK and overseas continues to challenge.
But our work in that time has meant tens of thousands within the UK and in the developing world have been directly impacted, found new hope, realised opportunity.
Our foundational front-line work formed a major shift in cross-sector community service delivery. It assisted the emerging idea of multi-agency partnering and the creation of community-centric projects which provided life-changing preventative care.
This collaborative approach – a mark of our work from the start – helped nurture other social pioneers into addressing social needs. It spawned faith-based social movements, and changes in Government policies and saw immeasurable numbers of individuals, families, and communities having their lives impacted, as they still do today.
Based in industrial warehouses with teams of staff and volunteers, our early projects furnished, clothed, and fed over 7,500 individuals and families each year, as they still do today. These projects, including recycling and high street Community Support Centres, were given vision, life, and wings to fly and evolve by One Life International. And are still running successfully and sustainably today.