I'm regularly asked 'how can we help?' by the church team and members with regards to someone coming with needs linked with homelessness or being vulnerable in some way. 

So recently I wrote the following Traffic Light system, identifying things we can always do, things we can sometimes do with limits, and things we should never do. It's become a helpful tool for discussion and guidance, and I'm conscious it will be regularly developed. 

I'll paste the Traffic Light System below, but also offer you this link to a more detailed document that also includes information on Safeguarding Responsibilities, local contact details, and some theological reflection. 

Please note - it is vital that all your actions are shaped by safeguarding policy and practices of your national church and the government, and it is vital that you have appropriate safeguarding training. Contact your national, regional and diocesan church for information. If you are linked with a charity then please refer to government guidelines here for safeguarding responsibilities. 

Green – things you can certainly offer:

• A warm, respectful welcome: smile, make eye contact, say ‘hello’, introduce yourself and listen.
• A hot drink & appropriate food: make the drink yourself and take it to the person (or go to the person offering refreshments and get the drink from them and take it to the person). Biscuits are normally around, but also tell them about Sunday lunch meals and Friday morning food projects. You can also offer to boil a kettle of hot water if they bring pot noodle onsite or offer to heat food in the microwave.
• A listening ear: don’t undervalue the significance of listening meaningful. Hearing about the situation doesn’t mean you need to fix their lives (you can’t!), but does mean you give honour, value and respect to people who might struggle with those things. Make sure you stay in a public place where someone else can see you or knows where you are.
• Information about where they can go to get help: Remember there is a network that has more capacity to give practical help than we do. Even though it’s not perfect, it has more expertise and resources than we do. Two Saints is the key hub of help, but you also have options to contact Southampton Homeless Team or the NHS (See below in Appendix for contact details).
• Time and space just to sit, be quiet or maybe sleep: The sofas at the back of church, the bench outside the office, the pews are all spaces where a person can rest and be still. And sometimes this is what they need. Be mindful that they are there, and just check them every now and again.
• To pray for the person in the coming week: People often appreciate you lightly saying, I’ll pray for you over the next week. And then commit to pray for them for the next seven days.

Orange – things that you can do or offer with thought, monitoring & limits.

• A small amount of money from the allocated church pot: Sera can give out small amounts of money from the church to be used for bus fares, taxi fares, clothes, toiletries, food, electricity or other needs. Often it is between £5 and £20 and is given in cash. See appendix 2 on the Clergy Pot
• Opportunity to charge a phone: Their phone is often a lifeline, so if asked to charge their phone then say yes. But remind them that the church is only open in the morning, and that they are responsible for the safety of the phone and charger cable. We don’t provide these, or store them
• Their use of the office phone: If calls need to be made to support workers, doctors or other supportive organisations, then they can come to the office on a weekday morning and use the phone.
• Storage of a bag of their possessions, for a limited amount of time: The church is big but storage is very limited. And we cannot promise to keep this secure and safe. Nor can we give access at a time that is always convenient to them. Therefore, storage of a bag can be offered in rare circumstances for a short time ,explain that we cannot promise it will be safe. Check with Sera, Andy or Frank
• Opportunity to check some information on the church laptop: Access to the internet is really helpful for a wide range of reasons (eg job searching & house hunting), and the church laptop can be used for this. However, a member of the staff, core team or pastoral team must sit with them through the time on the laptop. And no one should do any buying or enter their financial details on the laptop.

Red – things that I strongly advise you not to do.

• Do not invite them to stay in your house. – this raises many safeguarding risks for all of you.
• Do not give or lend your own money – this is why we have the clergy pot.
• Do not give hours of your time – it’s okay to give 20 minutes of listening, and then signpost to places for help or support. Remember you are a small piece in the big picture
• Do not give lifts in your car - (If unavoidable, you should take a third party along to keep you company). There is normally an alternative  which can be funded by the clergy pot eg bus fare, taxi fare.
• Do not give your own phone to someone else to use – your phone is a gateway to lots of your private world and you do not need to have someone else’s phone numbers or web searches on it.
• Do not use your personal online accounts (email, Amazon, Gumtree etc) on behalf of someone else – using your accounts increased your vulnerability and responsibility for a person you know very little about.
• Do not share the person’s name beyond the pastoral and church leadership circle without their permission – In terms of prayer requests, just use their initial, and in terms of people asking about them, avoid giving names out.