David visits the Winter Shelter on Tottenham High Road

Last Wednesday Evening, the 17/02/2010, David Lammy visited the Homeless Winter Shelter at the Church of Destiny on Tottenham High Road. The Winter Shelter at the Church of Destiny is run by Mark and Marian Van Gundy, who are also the pastors of the church, and they provide the homeless people of Tottenham a 3-course meal, a warm bed and breakfast in the morning to stop some of Tottenham's most vulnerable from having to spend the freezing winter nights outside. However, it is not just there to provide shelter and food, it is also there to provide the leg-up needed to get back into housing and employment by putting their guests in touch with the local authority and their training schemes.

On David's visit, as many as 20 people from the church congregation had come to help dish out food, clean-up and have a chat with the homeless people who come to the shelter. The church can support up to 35 people in communal and single rooms by converting almost every conceivable room in the church into a living space. As many as 5 people from the congregation, including the Van Gundy's, will stay up all night looking after their guests. Guests are forbidden from using drugs or drinking alcohol whilst on site, and are only allowed to use the facility for 28 days in total.

David said:

"It was incredible to see such passion and selflessness on the part of the congregation here. These people give up time, money and food to take part here, and without their commitment, there would be many people in Haringey who would have died in such a bitterly cold winter."

"It is also important to note that many of the people who make use of this service are not the typical homeless people that television or film has defined. These are people who have lost their jobs and have fallen through the cracks. These are people who have been kicked out of their family homes for whatever reason, and deserve the community's support."

"It is important that the people of Tottenham support schemes like this. The Winter Shelter will have stopped many hundreds of desperate people resorting to more desperate measures to feed, clothe and shelter themselves over the course of the winter, so everyone will have benefited from this scheme."

The scheme runs across Haringey, with 14 different churches, from all different denominations, taking part in one form or another, making it unique from almost any other across the country.

The scheme only runs from early December to early March, raising the question about how the Haringey community supports its homeless outside the winter months. Haringey is one of the few London Boroughs that does not have a permanent homeless shelter. David is hoping to convene a meeting between Haringey Council and the leaders of the 14 churches involved in the Winter Shelter Scheme to discuss the future of homeless provision, and the possibility of a permanent shelter.

The project will end on Tuesday, March 9. To volunteer or donate, e-mail winter.shelter@yahoo.co.uk