HSBC: Meet the Trailblazers

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‘We’ve pioneered a process that allows people with no fixed addresses to open bank accounts’

Lou Walker is a customer experience manager within HSBC UK’s Financial Inclusion and Vulnerability Team. She helps to run its No Fixed Address Service, which has allowed more than 500 people to gain access to a bank account since 2019 in partnership with Shelter and other local charities.

ccording to the housing charity Shelter, a staggering 280,000 people were homeless in England in 2019. As winter sets in, Covid-19 continues to make life even more difficult for the

UK’s homeless population. Thankfully, there are fantastic organisations out there empowering people to break the cycle of homelessness through training programmes, mentorships and the ability to open a bank account. In partnership with HSBC UK, we’re telling their stories.

These three kind-hearted individuals and their teams have come up with creative ways to combat the homelessness crisis

Meet the trailblazers

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‘If you have no fixed address, it can be very difficult to open a bank account. And if you don’t have a bank account, it’s much harder to access benefits like Universal Credit, receive salary payments or secure a tenancy. It’s a vicious cycle. The No Fixed Address Service was a follow-on to our Survivor Bank Service, where we opened bank accounts for victims of human trafficking and modern slavery. It was such a success that we used it as a blueprint for other groups without accounts. Since organising a pilot in Liverpool in 2019, we have opened in excess of 500 accounts across the UK in collaboration with Shelter, Crisis and local charities like Centrepoint. We are all human and deserve to be treated in the same way – it’s amazing what a difference a chat can make. We have a member of the HSBC UK team who had been passing a man experiencing homelessness on the street corner near his office every day for years. He always stopped for a chat, and bought him a coffee and a sandwich. Once the service had launched, he provided support by contacting a local charity and opening a bank account for him. He made such a difference to this person’s life. We all can.’

‘It’s about empowering people through giving them confidence’

Paul Ryan is the director of Café Art, a social enterprise which helps to connect people experiencing homelessness with the wider community through art.

‘In 2012, I was introduced to Michael Wong who had set up Café Art. He was helping people who were homeless express their creativity by framing their work and putting it on café walls. In 2013, we expanded to create the annual MyLondon calendar, where we hand out disposable cameras to people experiencing homelessness and they get seven days to take photos of the London that they love. Then, we print the calendar and people can sell it and get 50 percent of the sale price, like the ‘Big Issue’. Not only do they get to earn an income from their own photography, but they learn entrepreneurial skills and gain confidence by talking to people and telling their stories. This year, due to Covid-19, we couldn’t do the project in the way we normally would, so instead we asked the public to vote on the 12 best photos that we’ve collected over the years.’

‘I wanted Fat Macy’s to give people a sense of pride and purpose’

Meg Doherty is the founding director of social enterprise Fat Macy’s, a catering business and supper club that employs young Londoners living in temporary accommodation and trains them in hospitality.

‘About five years ago I started working in a homeless shelter. What I found really surprising was how hard it was for people to move out of hostels once they’d gotten in. It’s very difficult to save money for a rental deposit, as hostels can be way over £1,000 a month and usually need you to be on full benefits (which means you can’t work). It also surprised me that loads of people experiencing homelessness were young – 18 to 35. We came up with the Fat Macy’s programme through conversations with people living in hostels, and what kept coming up was a sense of progression – having a pathway. So, for every 50 hours of the traineeship at Fat Macy’s, participants can apply for a grant to cover a reward of their choice. For some, that’s getting their driving licence renewed. In the last two years, we’ve helped people to get jobs and buy things like bedding and pots and pans for their first flat. We’ve just got the keys to our first permanent space in Victoria, and we’ll be opening it as a café-deli space and expanding our training programme.’

‘It’s about empowering people through giving them confidence’

Paul Ryan is the director of Café Art, a social enterprise which helps to connect people experiencing homelessness with the wider community through art.

‘In 2012, I was introduced to Michael Wong, who had set up Café Art. He was helping people who were homeless express their creativity by framing their work and putting it on the café’s walls. In 2013, we expanded to create the annual MyLondon calendar, where we hand out disposable cameras to people facing homelessness and they get seven days to take photos of the London that they love. Then we print the calendar and people can sell it and get 50 percent of the sale price, like The Big Issue vendors do. Not only do they get to earn an income from their own photography, they also learn entrepreneurial skills and gain confidence by talking to people and telling their stories. This year, due to Covid-19, we couldn’t do the project in the way we normally would, so instead we asked the public to vote on the 12 best photos that we’ve collected over the years.’

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Learn more about HSBC UK's No Fixed Address Service

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Time Out

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Learn more about HSBC UK's No Fixed Address Service

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‘We’ve pioneered a process that allows people with no fixed addresses to open bank accounts’

‘I wanted Fat Macy’s to give people a sense of pride and purpose’

‘It’s about empowering people through giving them confidence’

‘We’ve pioneered a process that allows people with no fixed addresses to open bank accounts’

‘I wanted Fat Macy’s to give people a sense of pride and purpose’

‘‘It’s about empowering people through giving them confidence’