The Archer Project is a Sheffield-based charity and has been offering support and help to the homeless of the city and its region for over 30 years.
Tim Renshaw, the CEO of The Archer Project, gave an excellent, thought-provoking and, at times, disturbing insight into lives of the homeless and those sleeping rough on our streets. As to how people came to find themselves in such straits, Tim explained that, almost without exception, all had suffered some major trauma and abuse in their childhood home, whether that be violent, sexual or mental. Realising that the only way to bring an end to such a fearful existence was to leave their home and family behind and chance a life on the streets which, although risky and with its own dangers, was felt preferable to returning to an abusive home.
During his address, Tim referred to his book entitled 14 Nights, published in 2023, in which, by undertaking a period of sleeping rough for two weeks, he described his own personal experience of how it must feel to spend a life on the streets. He spoke about the cold and the discomfort, the effect on personal hygiene, brought about by having to wear the same clothes endlessly, the inability to wash daily and lack of easy access to toilets. He noted how those whom he met came to accept that such conditions would be theirs to endure, as if the depths to which they had fallen and their daily struggles were, somehow, their own fault and so they deserved nothing better. He empathised with their feelings of despair, low self-esteem, loneliness, their rejection by society and how the inevitable descent into drugs and alcohol helped to banish such negative thoughts and provided a buffer to the realities of their existence – until the next day, when the process repeated itself.
The objectives of the Archer Project are to change the situation of the homeless in the hope that the rebuilding of their lives will bring some purpose and fulfilment, and the means of doing this would be in three main stages:
Firstly, to find the homeless some means of regular and safe accommodation
Secondly, to take steps to improve their health and return some stability to their lives.
Thirdly, to find some employment to enable a sense of personal achievement.
To achieve these aims, The Archer Project adopted an approach of working towards establishing a feeling of trust in those who sought their help. Breakfast, tea and coffee are provided daily by volunteers, with concerns and anxieties able to be discussed freely in a relaxed and non–judgemental manner. The success of the project can be measured, not only in the reward of knowing that the project has helped so many on the road to a better life, but financial analysis shows that a conservative estimate of the saving to the public purse, for just one person, whose life had moved from prison, homelessness and drug use, to a tenancy, employment and abstinence amounts to over £150,000 over a five-year period. If this figure is extrapolated to include the total number of those who have received help from The Archer Project, it would suggest a total saving of several million pounds per year, a truly outstanding achievement when one considers that all funding is by private donations with no government contribution.
Should anyone wish to donate to The Archer Project, whether by a one off or a regular donation, it is possible to do so by logging onto www.archerproject.org.uk.
In conclusion, as evidenced by the clear interest and deluge of questions from those present, Tim’s talk must rank as one of the most memorable presented to Stumperlowe Probus in recent times, bringing to us a new understanding of the daily deprivations of those less fortunate than ourselves. The comfortable and privileged life that we lead, which we take for granted and without a second thought, emphasises, if any were needed, that, indeed, we do not know how lucky we are and for that we must be grateful for Tim’s presentation.