Swag material for a charity

[bugman]

Ladies and gents,

A good mate of mine is trying to set up a charity which will distribute "swags" to homeless people around the south east Qld corner. The idea is to try and give these people something at least comfortable and dry to sleep on if they must sleep on the streets.

To that end he's attempting to build swags which are cheaper to make and distribute . He has a design but is now trying to source materials and a manufacturer. As many of you will no canvass is pretty expensive.

He's been floating the idea of some sort of "tarp" product.

Just wondering if anyone out there has contacts in the textile product industry so he could look at different materials available on the market.

I'm sure he'd also consider worthy contributions to the worthy cause.

PM me or just let me know here.

Brett

[jaybee]

Brett, being an ex street worker with the Salvation Army, ( i'm going to get howled down for this) I can see where your mate is coming from, However, do you not think he will add to the problem if homeless people are comfortable and dry? Believe me, these people are very resourceful when it comes to be comfortable and dry, if you could have seen some of the squats i have been in. Also in the paper on the weekend, there is a push to get the vans like Rosies of the city streets, these guys do a great job, however the council and now the police are jumping up and down about them. I believe there should be a push on the state Government to utilise boggo road for the homeless, they could become semi self dependent, it has a workshop, areas for garden, and a great kitchen, the place could be utilised to retrain people to get back into the workforce with the workshop there and the kitchen and at the same time provide shelter. But they seem to think its more important to run Ghost shows, go figure. my two bobs worth.
cheers
Joe.

[Sandman]

Joe,
The problem wont go away ( not jumping down your throat but..) New fire regulations will place alot of pressure on boarding houses to close down it will be similar trend to when institutions where closed.
All boarding houses now need to meet these standards that cost around 100k at minimal.
This as well as the cost of rentals and lack of Dept housing available will see many more on the street. Yes the Salvo's help out but its not long term , Boggo Road is earmarked for residential and retail .
Joe i do agree there are alternatives out there, its getting the support and making others aware..

Brett will keep my ears peeled

Sandman

[blaze]

My brother is a Salvo officer in sydney at the cross, he tells some real horror stories but he opinion is there is good even in the worst. Also seems to think a lot are homeless because of circumstances they have no control over.
I was suprised to learn of the number of homeless even in my closest city, Burnie and only has a pop of 20 000.
So what ever help that an individual can give can only be good but until we have a goverment that show compassion for the less forturnate there is not going to be any inprovement
cheers
blaze

[saphire]

There have always been homeless people and there always will be.
Often homeless people have a psychiatric condition, or intellectual problems or just choose a homeless way of life, or have it thrust upon them.
The homeless people come from a huge diversity of social backgrounds.
If giving a homeless person a swag will make them more comfortable then that can only be a good thing.
The whole issue of homelessness is so complicated. #Each homeless person has a different story.
Bugman, I hope your friend gets his project up and going. #He is thinking of helping people which is always commendable.

[Dug]

Sounds like a good idea it will not work for everyone but nothing ever does.

I always try to buy a copy of "the Big Issue" magazine sold by homeless people and a great read.

If you have 43 to spare pick a copy when you are in a city next time.

[Dug]

Have you talked to someone like supacheap about the blue tarp material?

it must be unbelievably cheap to get in bulk.

[DaveSue_Fishos_Two]

Brett

For the short time I have been a member of this site, I have admired and respected your rational thinking and suggestions on a range of topics. I'm not piddling in your pocket, I don't know you and therefore my opinion is not influenced. Your friend is to be admired and certainly commended for his concern for the homeless. It is hard for me to continue without a 'but' when there truly are so many out there who desperately need long and short term assistance. There are also others who are quick to captilise on anything and everything, who will 'exploit' the good intentions of others, and who will 'use' resources supplied to those less fortunate. I am not a Salvation Army Officer, I am not a welfare officer, but yes sure I do have a strong affiliation with the work these people do and I am 100% supportive of it and them. Often has been the hour when I have volunteered and helped out.

Short terms solutions are very often bandaides. And short term solutions often bring their own set of problems eg: public liability - ( if a recipient of one of your friend's suggestions should incur personal injury or suffering, who pays). The whole concept of aiding disadvantaged individuals must be focused on the cause, and addressing that can only result in less frequent diagnoseses in the future. That's the theory anyway. Personally, I don't have a long term solution, and God knows I wish I did. What I do know is that if society keeps doing what society does than nothing will change. The old counselling adage: "If you always do what you always did then you'll always get what you always got".
Brett, I'm not poo-hooing your friend or your support of his idea, I just thing that the root of this problem needs to be addressed, for the betterment of today, and the future of tomorrow. Once again, I respect your post.

Cheers
Dave

[Dug]

Heck bandaids work!

they save spilling a lot of blood.

they stop infection.

there are times and situations where bandaids can be great!

[szopen]

Now for an ignorant person like me.
Back to the issue.

What is a swag?
What type of material are you looking for?
Are you looking for stuff with a good price or for somebody to donate it?

[blaze]

padded, water proof sleeping bag to enable the inserted live body to sleep in comfort

[bugman]

Thanks for everyone's posts so far.

I think I might join Tim up or even get him to post through me so he can explain it in a bit more detail.

He certainly realises that the idea he has isn't going to fix the problem but he's passionate about starting the charity to do "something" for those on the streets.

He has had offers of sponsorship and has a design. He's up to the stage of source materials and a manufacturer now.

I'll let him explain in the near future.

Brett

[bugman]

Hi this is Tim, Bretts mate, thanks everyone for replying and having input in this thread, response is great. Firstly, no, this is not going to solve the homeless problem, as mentioned on the board it is a very compex issue. This is just a simple solution to an immediate need, if it keeps people warm and dry then I think it's worth doing.

The idea came from an ABC program called 'How the Quest Was Won' where they sent 2 people out on the street for a few days to experience homelessness first hand and they filmed it all. At the end of their experience they said that the worst thing about the whole experience was lack of sleep because of cold and being uncomfortable. They could source food OK through charities but 'sleeping rough' was very difficult.

We were in the market at that time for a camping swag and knew how warm and comfortable they are so naturally thought that if we could raise some money to buy some swags for these people it would be of some assistance. So we got a group of friends together and started meeting with charities such as Rosies to see if they tought it was an idea worth pursuing, which they did, so they are helping us any way they can.

Traditional swags are too expensive and large to carry around, so we came up with a simple design that folds up into a backpack so people can use it for something other than sleeping on it. We need a very light, thin, durable material that also insulates from the cold, water resistant and is cheap. The cheaper the unit the more we can make for the money. The swags will be distributed through charities such as Rosies and we are approaching others like Axis Street Vans and Vinnies.

So we are at the stage of finding the right material and sourcing enough of it, and also trying to find a manufacturer to make the swag itself, so if you have any contacts or ideas that could help out please post here or PM Brett.

Thanks again for everyones input, very much appreciated.
cheers, Tim.