Helping homeless into employment through Rotherham 'hope in soap' scheme - Aaron Probert

For people who are experiencing or trying to escape homelessness – and there are 270,000 of them in the UK - that means falling at the very first hurdle. There are plenty of other barriers which mean homeless people are disadvantaged when it comes to seeking employment.

Gaps in work, lack of access to healthcare and not being able to access a bank account are just a few. All of these factors led me to focus my business dissertation at The University of Sheffield on creating a social enterprise to help homeless people. I didn’t want to help just by donating money from a product sale to homelessness causes. I wanted to directly help them in a way where a tangible impact was made.

After a rollercoaster five year journey Labre’s Hope was finally born last year. It is named after the patron saint of homelessness Saint Benedict Joseph Labre.

We aim to put the ‘hope in soap’ by directly employing people on a living wage to create our special soap. And it is very special, handmade, biodegradable, artisanal, vegan and eco-friendly. Not only do our staff or ‘soap artists’ receive a living wage, which was built into our costing model, but they also access vital housing or employment support.

Experts at Crisis and the South Yorkshire Housing Association help with this and aid our mission in investing in their futures. We are the first UK organisation to support those experiencing homelessness into employment through eco-friendly cosmetic making. But I think more businesses should start employing homeless people. Not only are there obvious benefits for those people, but there are plenty of advantages for society and companies too.

For society, taking people off the streets can reignite pride in a community. Homeless people who are helped back into employment will need to claim less welfare and will spend their money in businesses. They will be able to access healthcare, reducing waiting times at A&E because often homeless people have nowhere else to turn for medical help.

For businesses this is a great way to better understand a local community. Working with people in need can be a unique way to meet your Corporate Social Responsibility, which is of huge value. Such firms then have a better standing as they are proving they are interested in more than just profit.

There’s also plenty being said about a shortage of workers at the moment, but not nearly enough being done to help homeless people back into that workforce. Since we started creating soap at our headquarters in Rotherham, I have been surprised by the diversity in the backgrounds of our soap artists.

We have worked with people who have a great university degree. Society tends to think they shouldn’t end up on the streets because they are clearly skilled and educated - but life happens. People become homeless for all kinds of reasons. For some the trigger is a decline in mental or physical health, debt, relationship or family breakdowns, the death of a relative. It can happen to anybody.

A lot of our soap artists are real go-getters. If you give them a task they will want to do their absolute best. Homeless people typically have low self esteem and it means a great deal for them to achieve something.

Already one of our soap artists has been able to step into a management role.

Another wants to learn leadership skills so she can help vulnerable women.

A year ago neither would have dreamed they would be in those positions. I wish more business leaders would look beyond the label and consider becoming a launchpad for getting homeless people back into employment.

It is a win-win for everybody.

Aaron Probert is founder and director of Labre’s Hope