Help Bristol’s Homeless (HBH) has always been rooted in community. If you haven’t visited the colourful shipping containers brightening a corner of industrial land in Bedminster, let us walk you through. BBF’s Brewed to Give team visited the site’s cafe one muggy summer morning to catch up with CEO and founder, Jasper. From the moment we walked on to site, the friendly faces, the bright colours and smells of fresh jerk chicken wafting through the air told us that this is a place that welcomes, supports and nurtures.
The containers in BS3 are relatively recent. HBH, like all great movements, started small. Jasper ran a restaurant on North Street - in our BS3 heartland - and wanted to help the people he could see suffering in the cold. He started alone, simply handing out socks to those on the streets. His good deeds started gaining traction on Facebook, and soon, an online community of people turned out IRL. People would donate goods via his restaurant for him to pass on, then, around eight years ago, a friend upped the anti by donating a caravan on Malago Road. With this space HBH was able to put a roof over the heads of 2-4 people and create office space. The movement had snowballed; a community was established.
When the caravan’s time on Malago Road was coming to an end, around 2017-18, Jasper knew he needed a bigger site to support more people. He approached the council, who allowed him to be stationed on an unused plot of his choosing. Jasper chose a BS3 site with warehouses in place, which he had torn down, much to the council’s surprise. “It is not possible to convert warehouses to habitable dwellings as practically as you can shipping containers,” says Jasper. Even for someone who has an army of helpful friends such as plumbers and electricians who are willing to pitch in. Jasper is well connected, his energy is contagious – the first container was financed when Rob from Massive Attack invested in Jasper’s vision, and once it proved successful, more businesses and donors got behind him. Today the containers stand at 32, soon to be 33. Each has a complete refurb between occupants, providing a literal as well as metaphorical fresh start. But this is not an inexpensive operation, and it needs the local community’s support.
This is no longer Jasper’s project alone; there is a collective of staff that busy around the site, organising the upcoming art show, running the café and maintaining the site. Some of these people have come up through HBH, proving there are tangible and lasting success stories to what the charity does. The entire site feels safe and clean, with clear signage to facilities such as the laundry room and showers. This is a place free of drugs and alcohol, where there is also a wellbeing centre, providing therapy, massage, and hairdressing, to name a few benefits. HBH knows that these things are a basic human right, that to equip someone with the tools to recover from their challenges is to give them the dignity to get back up again. This is not putting a band-aid on a situation, but providing a model that works. Because if someone falls back down (and sometimes, understandably, they do – don’t we all face challenges and setbacks?) HBH will be there for them, be it for months or a year. Whatever they need.
Jasper is clearly trusted, not just by the community at HBH but by the local authorities, and he is happy to offer wisdom to any other cities wishing to replicate his achievements. The three things that HBH – or indeed, a person suffering homelessness – need, are simply “time, finance, and support,” says Jasper, “and with this model, you can pick it up and run, anywhere.”
The pillars of Help Bristol’s Homeless align with those holding the foundation of BBF’s own community project, Brewed to Give. We raise up Bristol communities by donating 2% of our total brewery sales to groups making a positive difference. We prefer to donate beer, and support groups to sell this for 3-5 times the cost value, however we know that this is not always suitable. That is why we offer cash donations to groups like HBH, so they can spend it where it is most needed. We recently gave HBH £5k for this very reason, but since connecting with Jasper, we have been looking for more ways to support his movement in the most appropriate way. With a charity fundraiser on the horizon, the time is now. Bristol Beer Factory is donating the beer at Marble Factory which means that HBH receive 100% of every can sold. BBF foots the manufacturing cost, pays the duty and VAT so the amount HBH raise through sales is amplified. This is how we #drinkwithpurpose
‘HOME IS WHERE THE ART IS’ will be held at Marble Factory on Friday 27th September from 7.30pm. Click here to reserve your free ticket.
