Our Work

Giving Hands operates in Brierley Hill Dudley, West Midlands. The Dudley Borough is one of the most deprived boroughs in England (Indices of Deprivation, 2015). Report shows that within the borough 31,646 people, representing about 10% of the population live in the 10% most deprived neighbourhoods in England.

We provide threefold (3) wrap around approach for people living in deprivation with food, clothing, housing & employment support. For the past nine (9) years, we have been helping the homeless, rough sleepers, the unemployed, the poor and needy, those with severe debt problems, those leaving hostels and rehab centres, those fleeing domestic violence, those with health problems, those who are socially isolated, the underprivileged and disadvantaged, those addicted to substances, those in severe depression, those in crisis, and all those within our reach whose lives are a struggle due to the hardship that they face daily.

The following is a summary of the statistics of people we supported in 2021: 56% were homeless or at risk of being homeless, 44% were rough sleepers, 78% were unemployed, 39% had debt issues, 22% were fleeing domestic violence or leaving hostels, 19% had a disability and 18% had mental health issues. 93% of the people we have supported are families in need, living below the poverty line.

We operate based on our Christian ethos and believe in Jesus Christ. As part of our core values, we are committed to improving the quality of life of people irrespective of religion, race, gender, age and sexual orientation.

Evidence to show the need for the project

As at December 2022, we have supported up to 11,520 people, including families with children. In addition, we have prevented 157 households from being made homeless, totalling 628 people. 74% of our service users were helped food, toiletries, clothing and household items. 52% were given sleeping bags, mattresses, and beddings. 16% we provided advice or referred to partner agencies for specialised support.   As a way of reaching out to families in need that have children, 42% were helped with the provision of toys. 100% of the referring organizations that work with us report that the support provided by us has made a positive impact on the lives of their clients.

Due to the positive impact we are making in the community, the West Midlands Police appointed us as one of the Third Party Reporting Centres where victims of hate crimes who are reluctant to report directly to the Police can approach, so we can help the victims in reporting the incident via True Vision, the online reporting site for hate crimes.

 Also recently, we helped to house a well-known homeless person in Dudley. Kindly find the news publication of this online: “Homeless man in Dudley finds new home”.

Our range of services and support provided

We address the immediate social and economic needs of local individuals and families living in poverty, and deprivation, by providing food, clothing, sleeping bags and bedding, furniture, household items and advice; food parcels and toiletries through our own food bank and soup kitchen. Also provide electric/gas top-up vouchers (particularly for vulnerable elderly people) so they can have hot water, stay warm and are able to make hot meals for themselves and their children. We help the homeless secure accommodation, assisting them in applying for benefits and training them for volunteering and paid employment. We assist job seekers to search for jobs online and we offer a variety of workshops/courses such as in art and educational options e.g. numeracy and literacy. All our services are provided free of charge to all our service users.

Outcome of the project

The planned outcome of our project is to help the homeless, the poor and needy, and aged people to attain a better quality of life. The key outcome will be supporting them to develop their independence and resilience, develop their self-confidence, increase their ability to tackle setbacks, improve their ability to identify and change negative behaviour and generally to have improved and better lives.