Around 10,000 emergency cold weather packs for the homeless are being distributed by the St Vincent de Paul Society throughout March.
The emergency supplies or “Vinnie packs”, which include everything from hats and gloves to toothpaste and toothbrushes, were issued across the country in response to freezing conditions earlier this month.
The UK experienced extreme cold at the beginning of March, with temperatures plummeting to -15.2 Celsius in the Scottish village of Kimbrace on 7 March.
The freezing conditions, which triggered a level three cold weather warning from the Met Office, presented particular dangers to homeless people.
“If your only choice is to be exposed to the elements, then you’re at the mercy of whatever the weather throws at you,” said St Vincent de Paul Society member Siobhan Garibaldi.
Garibaldi, who has been a member of the SVP for 27 years, said that the packs are distributed entirely by volunteers.
“There’s always some adventure or some logistical issue with delivery because we aren’t professional drivers. But no problem is insurmountable. God willing, every year we manage to drop the packs off,” she told The Tablet.
Homeless people are especially vulnerable, with the Office for National Statistics reporting that 688 homeless people died in England and Wales during 2020.
It is believed that more deaths may have gone unregistered.
Garibaldi is also concerned for homeless people during the upcoming summer, where the threat of hypothermia may change to a threat of heatstroke.
“I was told by one of the local authorities that there are more people who die on the street in the summer in the heat than people who die in the winter,” she said. “If we had the funds to do it, there definitely is a desire to do summer packs.”
Last summer saw the UK’s hottest day on record, with 40.2 Celsius reported at Heathrow Airport in July.
The Met Office has warned that 2023 will be even hotter.
St Vincent de Paul Society was founded in 1844 and engages in a wide range of charitable activities, from organising soup runs for the homeless to visiting people in prison.
You can support their work by making a donation.
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