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October – November 2025 : Making a difference READ ONLINE

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Making a difference

October 01 2025
Emdad (right) volunteering. © Emdad Rahman Emdad (right) volunteering. © Emdad Rahman

Words on the importance of volunteers and the vital work they do. By Emdad Rahman

As volunteers lace up their boots and step into the evening chill, they carry a bag of supplies filled with hope, compassion and the conviction that small, sincere actions can ripple into extraordinary change.

For me, making a difference means showing up wholeheartedly and consistently for people who are too often unseen. It means recognising the humanity behind the sign, the frozen breath, the worn-out shoes.

With the bitter winter ahead, the urgency for outreach volunteers to support rough sleepers intensifies. Visiting hostels, distributing winter wear, offering hot food, warm beverages and hygiene packs protect physical health and nurture dignity.

An added volunteer street presence can ensure people don’t slip through the cracks. When we check in regularly we become the bridge linking them to vital services, medical care, mental health support and housing pathways.

Volunteers amplify and complement the work of government agencies and mainstream services. With personal engagement, we can connect with individuals who might distrust formal systems, who’ve fallen through bureaucratic nets.

In many areas, faith-based organisations arrange outreach, running evening shelters, organising food banks, coordinating prayer and fellowship among vulnerable communities. Their facilities, volunteer networks and deep-rooted trust make a huge difference.

But what’s more inspiring is the growing collaboration between people of faith and those without, who unite in purpose, sharing resources. Together, they deliver outstanding outcomes: shelter found, medical appointments kept, hot meals served, mental health referrals made.

Homelessness is never just about lacking shelter and is often intertwined with mental health challenges, trauma, addiction and social isolation. Regular engagement gives people space to share their stories safely. By listening without judgment, it helps alleviate the loneliness that fuels despair, encouraging those affected to seek counseling, peer support groups, or crisis services when needed.

To truly make a difference, we must understand the roots: lack of affordable housing, sky-high rents and waiting lists push people into the streets. Unstable income strips security. Mental health and addiction can be both causes and consequences of homelessness. Family breakdown and trauma force many into abrupt displacement. System breakdowns, such as release from hospitals or prisons without proper support, sets people adrift.

Knowing these causes guides our outreach – advocating for housing first policies, connecting people to employment programmes, supportive housing and mental health care.

The impact of small and sincere actions means a warm meal shared on a cold night can nourish both body and spirit. For example, a real conversation, asking “how are you?” without hurry, can light a spark of trust.

Over time, these moments accumulate. They help people get into emergency accommodation, enter longer-term support systems, reconnect with family and can stabilise mental health.

From the perspective of a community volunteer, making a difference is about being present: warmth in the cold, water in the heat, kind words in the silence.

Volunteers are not alone. Government efforts and mainstream services are critical, but volunteers add compassion, adaptability and presence where formal systems cannot always reach. Communities help lead the way and, as partners, we build bridges of trust and deliver results.

By listening, sharing, advocating and simply being there, we create ripples that reach far beyond a simple meal or warm garment. We touch lives, restore hope and remind those on the margins that they are seen, valued and human.

In the long, harsh winter, or the relentless summer heat, our small actions speak volumes. And that is what it truly means to make a difference.

< Intro to SOSH News in Brief : Issue 158 >
October – November 2025 : Making a difference

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