Mat in Bradford talks about the challenge of the early work trying to engage with a non-engager:
“I identified this guy from Ivory Coast as a complete non-engager based on my own experience and what I’d heard from other services. After many failed attempts to connect with him I found out where he was sleeping and Jon and I went down early one morning and took him some breakfast. He took the food but pretty much completely ignored us.
The following day I was in another service and he was there, sitting on his own avoiding everyone as usual. As I left I said ‘au Revoir’, and I got a smile and a wave. I felt this was a great result and the opportunity to start a relationship… the following day he was back to ignoring me!”
The reason Simon on the Streets exists is because we will not let people like this drop off the radar. If people need support but are not ready to accept it yet we believe simply waiting for them to change their mind is not good enough. By getting in front of people and trying different things we are creating opportunities to begin a journey of change that would not happen without some kind of intervention.