Over 350 items of essentials donated at StreetsFest 2023
Today, on 5th September we attended our 3rd Streets Fest Festival and the 6th festival of its kind! Streets Fest is an incredible annual festival for individuals experiencing homelessness or at risk of homelessness in the Haringey and Islington areas. The festival’s roster offers an array of health and wellbeing support services and activities, all in one space, whilst ultimately radiating fun vibes! The sun most definitely had its hat on and so did everyone else - spirits were high and we were all feeling the love listening to Bob Marley in the sunshine floating across from the festival’s stage!
Dotted around a corner of Finsbury Park were pop-up tents where people could come for liver and diabetes checks, NHS checks of all kinds, painting, theatre and singing workshops and there was a main stage playing live music. It wasn’t before long that people were up dancing! There were advice stalls with numerous charities and organisations offering drug and alcohol advice, and housing advice, as well as food and clothing stalls, free haircuts and showers, Streets Kitchen’s very own food and our very own Leiho free essentials shop.
In 2019 we brought a big bag of socks to share with the individuals and this year we were invited to hold our very own shop where we were giving out free essentials including toiletries, socks, mugs, snacks, ice lollies, juices, slippers, clothes and other household essentials! Most of us are lucky enough to have loved ones around us who have our backs, but we must remember that some people do not. Thanks to donations from Nivea, Positive Outlook Clothing, Live in the Light and all of our wonderful Leiho customers purchasing our funky socks, we had the means to donate over 350 items of essentials to people in need. Our community coming together to help vulnerable communities is what we love most and why we built Leiho in the first place.
Thank you to all who contributed their little bit and in turn made lots of lovely people very very happy today!
If you’d like to read more about Streets Kitchen and all the amazing work they do, take a look here. The festival is run as a collaboration between Haringey and Islington councils and Streets Kitchen, a grassroots group that provides food and clothing for the homeless community.
Written by Bella Hayward