Supporting vulnerable local people at Moseley Hive.

Meet the utterly gorgeous Poppy. Every Wednesday, Moseley Hive in Birmingham runs a drop-in supporting vulnerable local people. Poppy sits patiently and adorably for three hours while people drop by for a friendly chat, a hot drink, some help with benefits, or simply to sit in a warm and safe space for a bit.

I’ve been helping out at these drop-ins since I took a break from work at the start of October. But while I choose to be unemployed for a bit, the people who drop in on a Wednesday do not.

It’s something of an eye-opener. Like many people, I am well aware that being homeless and hungry is definitely not ‘a lifestyle choice’. But I am discovering just how much the system is stacked against such people, intentionally or not – and regardless of if they happen to be homeless and hungry in an otherwise affluent area.

There seems little hope at all for them if people like Anji, the outreach worker for a local charity, are not around to support them. Anji helps them navigate the tortuous and complicated bureaucratic obstacles to even start with things like applying for universal credit.

But that’s just the technical stuff. Poppy gets a LOT of fuss on Wednesdays because she is as much a comfort to visitors as the human support they get.

She is also just lovely (and she knows it!) Last week a gaggle of Ukrainian children doted on her while their parents got support from Moseley for Ukraine, which also has a drop-in at the Hive on Wednesdays.

In supporting vulnerable local people, Mosley Hive (under the umbrella of Moseley Community Development Trust), is providing lifelines to those that really need them.