As the winter continues to take a grip, our thoughts naturally turn to vulnerable people experiencing homelessness and their struggle for survival during these challenging conditions.
With this important issue in mind, two radio stations recently interviewed our Chief Executive Officer, Donna Talbot, about the challenges homeless people face and our crucial work to end the misery of homelessness for as many people as possible.
On Sunday (12 January) Donna joined Cambridge Radio’s host Lewis Herbert, along with Natasha Davies, CEO of Jimmy’s Cambridge and James Holden, Fundraising Manager of Wintercomfort, for a one-hour discussion: ‘Homelessness in Cambridge – the city’s Biggest Challenge?’
The panel discussion includes a pre-recorded interview with Simon Penn, Housing Advice Partnership Manager for Cambridge City Council.
“Such an important issue”
Introducing the ‘Cambridge Challenges’ programme, host Lewis Herbert said: “Perhaps fitting given the weather that we’ve recently had, but more generally because it’s such an important issue for us in a City like Cambridge to look at homelessness.
“We looked at it in earlier years and it’s not going to go away. All the data and evidence nationally says that the problems with people that are single and homeless, and families, with so much more temporary accommodation, it’s just getting worse.”
Donna said: “Selwyn Image, our founder, recognised this issue in Cambridge and obviously wanted to address it, hence we became the first Emmaus community (in 1992).
“What is slightly unique about us as a community is that we provide accommodation for people, which is important for their safety and security. We also provide work experience, so people have the opportunity to come and live with us but also to contribute to the social enterprise, whilst they receive support from our support team.
“That’s really the three crucial aspects to what we do. By enabling people to understand that they have worth is really crucial in building up their self-esteem to enable them to live a better life moving forward.”
“We give them time”
She added: “The crucial thing for us is that we give them time. We’re not necessarily as time-limited as some organisations because what we offer is quite broad, but I think that really illustrates more in the numbers and the ages of people that we support. At the moment we support 44 individuals and maybe surprisingly to some people, 61 % of those people are between the ages of 41 and 59, so we are supporting a slightly older age group than maybe some people would expect.”
You can listen to the full interview on Cambridge Radio catch-up here: https://cambridge105.co.uk/challenges-12-01-2025/
Last month our charity’s work was also featured by BBC Radio Cambridgeshire, on the Chris Mann show, aired on Tuesday 3 December.
Reporter, Tom Jackson, visited our Landbeach community and interviewed Donna, who spoke about the work we do to end the trauma of homelessness for the people we support, known as companions.
She also spoke about the important work we do to support other local homelessness charities such as Jimmy’s and Winter Comfort. Tom’s interview was aired on Chris Mann’s show which also included interviews with our support worker, Michael Canning, and companion Gary Symonds.
Donna said: “It was fantastic to be interviewed by BBC Radio Cambridgeshire and Cambridge Radio to discuss the important issue of homelessness and the vital work we do to support people to a much brighter future.
“It was great to welcome BBC Radio Cambridgeshire reporter Tom Jackson to our community and share what we do, as well as providing important perspectives from our support worker, Michael Canning, and companion Gary Symonds who were interviewed live on air.
“Thank you to both radio stations for highlighting our important work at this especially challenging time of year for people facing, or experiencing, the trauma of homelessness. Huge thanks also to Michael and Gary for their insightful contributions.”
You can catch the BBC Radio Cambridgeshire segment via our YouTube link: https://youtu.be/-oGMiXUf1Y0