In late 2018, shelter volunteer and radio presenter Sarah Lamptey was dismayed by how hard it was for homeless people to access hygiene facilities. She founded ShowerBox, London’s first free mobile showers, based in a specially fitted van that travels between homelessness charities and foodbanks. It’s something that makes a huge different to the mental wellbeing of vulnerable people, she says – and it’s work that has proven life-saving during the pandemic.
Since Christmas 2018, there’s been a blue box, carrying two showers and two changing rooms, on the streets of London. This simple box has cared for hundreds of people in need, providing clean, warm water and a space for self-care.
The development of the ShowerBox project has been gradual, as this was new territory – personally and also for a homeless service in London. It started by servicing homeless shelters, which had their own structures and volunteers. Then, myself and volunteer friends ran the shower trailer alongside the Simon Community’s Street Cafe at St Giles-in-the-Fields Church. The mobile nature of the showers combined with the project’s lack of formal structure enabled the project to adapt to each scenario, culminating in this ubiquitous Covid one. As a result, ShowerBox has naturally become its own independent service at St Giles-in-the-Fields.
Thank you SO MUCH @EcoverUK !!!!!! A disbelief-invoking amount of donated cleaning products!!!! So moved, so grateful and so relieved that we may reserve donations for other elements of the project! Wonderfully, vitally green, too. THANK YOU! ♡♡♡ https://t.co/yEEz8HYIfY
— showerboxldn (@showerboxldn) September 16, 2020
However, with ShowerBox’s unofficial status as a charitable project came the challenge of funding. Thus far, aside from a £5,000 grant from the Somers Town Community Association, I’ve raised funds for ShowerBox on JustGiving alone (incredibly touchingly, the website awarded the project ‘Changemaker of the Year’ at its award ceremony last year). In order to be eligible for various funding avenues, I recently submitted an application for ShowerBox to become a Community Interest Company. There are only so many times I can enlist friends and family to donate!
The chaos of Covid ladled extra challenges on to the project. Recruiting drivers was tricky prior to the pandemic, let alone when lockdown hit. So I, a relatively new driver, took to the roads and started towing! It’s incredible (and sometimes terrifying) what sheer determination will make one do! Financially, we were hit too; this has not been a great year to rely on public donations. Also, the congestion charge was extended to the weekend, adding £60 on top of £50 Ultra Low Emission Zone payments each month. Another hurdle took the form of finding a new base for the trailer and Jeep. A church had let us use its car park, but needed the spaces back to rent them out, having lost money with the church closed. Also, many day centres have reopened with restricted services, so we are now showering between 30 and 35 people each week and have had to extend our hours. Lastly, there was the major obstacle of closed toilets. Again, I was reminded of the degrading options available when there is a lack of facilities.
