Suspending judgement on Suspended Coffee

Have you heard about ‘suspended coffee’, the new occurrence where a customer will go into a coffee shop, ask for a hot drink for themselves and another (or more) ‘suspended’?  They pay for the total number ordered.  Then, people who are homeless, out of work, or just short of money can walk into a coffee shop and ask if there are any ‘suspended’ coffees. If there are, they will be served a hot drink free of charge.

There is now a ‘Suspended Coffee’ Facebook page

I have misgivings about the whole thing, and that makes me feel quite guilty.  Of course I don’t want to deny anyone a hot drink, particularly when it is as cold as it has been. But I wonder whether it is the best way to help those who are homeless or destitute.

Over the years I have been asked whether you should give money to those begging on the streets.  It is an individual decision, and my personal choice is not to.

Of course it must be up to the individual to decide whether they wish to buy a ‘suspended coffee’ for someone.  They will need to have confidence that the retailer will, in fact, pass on the coffee to the intended beneficiary.

It is a shame that the tax affairs of one of the largest coffee chains seeks to minimise its tax liabilities, although it is unlikely that homeless people would benefit from normalising their tax affairs.

I am somewhat of a hypocrite.  At BHT we constantly ask for donations, in cash and in kind, to help those men and women who are in the greatest need.  We have an Amazon wish list (another company with its own tax controversy) where we ask people to buy essential items for clients including thermal underwear, socks, and coats.

During summer heat waves (for those who can’t remember that far back, a heat wave is “a prolonged period of excessively hot weather”!) we have been grateful to the wonderful people at Life Water who have donated thousands of bottles of water to help keep our clients hydrated.

So why is it ok for me to encourage gifts through BHT to our clients, rather than a more immediate act of giving? The only justification I can give is that we are an organisation that promotes change, and your gifts to us might help us engage and assist people off the streets.

But there again, I am not sure. My colleague Rob Robinson is a great fan of ‘Suspended Coffee’.  He says that those people who are on the streets are excluded on so many levels.  By experiencing the atmosphere of a coffee shop, they might just reassess their aspirations and seek help.

I’m confused.  I guess I will just have to suspend a final judgement.

Social media, online support and traditional giving all help BHT deliver services to our clients

Earlier today, as Sussex ground to a halt because of overnight snow, I tweeted about the Amazon wish list for First Base Day Centre.  The most surprising item on the wish list is for sun protection lotion, probably the thing furthest from most people’s thoughts as they slipped and slid into work this morning.

The serious point, of course, is that homeless people are at far greater risk of getting skin cancer than the rest of the population given their exposure to the elements.

The wish list, which can be found here, has a load more items that are very relevant during periods of severe cold.  I spent a few minutes this morning looking at what has already been bought by our supporters from the wish list in the last few weeks:

• 21 fleece jackets
• 4 pairs of thermal long johns
• 7 thermal vests
• 54 pairs of thermal socks
• 2 sleeping bags
• 5 waterproof jackets
• 21 toothbrushes
• 12 tubes of toothpaste
• as well as a whole range of other one off items essential for the work of First Based Day Centre.

Thank you to all those who have helped people keep dry, warm and clean.

I also this morning read a report, published in Digital Donor Review, that showed that only 5% of charitable donations are made through sites such as Facebook and Twitter, even though 30% of respondents said they were inspired to give by social media.

The First Base wish list shows that people like giving in different ways.  At BHT we are fortunate to have some extremely generous benefactors who support our work year on year, those who leave a bequest to BHT in their Wills, and those who support us on the ad hoc basis, although many do so on a regular basis in response to appeals, not least at Christmas time.

BHT is extremely fortunate to have secured a large number of contracts from national and local government, and we are successful in bidding of charitable funds, such as those from the Big Lottery.  However, it is the support of ordinary men and women that makes a real difference in the work we tend to.

From the list above, there are many items that we take for granted.  But for somebody sleeping on the streets of our towns and cities, having dry and warm clothes is important as is their ability to wash their face and clean their teeth.

Appeal for warm clothing and thermals

At First Base, our day centre for homeless people in Brighton, we have recently had a huge number of new clients and are run out of a number of really improtant items necessary for basic survival:

• fleeces
• thermal vests
• thermal socks/new socks
• mens boxers
• sleeping bags

We’re appealing for donations of useful items for people who really need it. You can buy us something on Amazon using the wish list on this link and it will be delivered straight to us. We are particularly looking for warm clothing and thermals due to the cold weather.

If you would like further information, please phone 01273 326844.

And, finally, please help share this list if you can by email, Facebook and Twitter.

How much time do you spend each day on Twitter, and has it improved your social life?

On the train to Lewes this morning. I bumped into an old friend. We got talking about Twitter. He said he couldn’t spare the time to get into something like that, and that trying to keep up with Facebook was almost a full-time occupation.

I extolled the virtues of Twitter and assured him that it was so unlike either Facebook or, more importantly, an email inbox. He asked me how much time I spend each day on Twitter. I probably spend 10 to 15 minutes a day at most, 95% of the time reading and re-tweeting except on those days when I am actively tweeting in which case I might spend four, possibly five minutes.

By pure chance, on the train journey back from Lewes, I stumbled across an Infogram on influence and social media.

The Infogram suggests that the average person spends 405 minutes each month on Facebook, 89 minutes on Tumbler and on Pinterest (both a mystery to me), and just 21 minutes on Twitter.

Have a look at the Infogram. There is information that could even improve your social life! Compared to the average Internet user, social media users are 45% more likely to go out on a date. Now for any doubters out there, that should be a compelling case for you to join Twitter….

Twitter, who I am following, emails, and some shameless self-promotion

Do you, like me, sometimes pretend to know what people are saying when in fact you don’t?  I find this happens often on social media which can be fast moving and I find myself running just to stand still.

I don’t really get LinkedIn, I keep up with my daughter and nieces (I have no nephews) through Facebook, and feel out of my depth with most other social media. But I love Twitter. Some people liken Twitter to another email inbox. It is nothing like that. While emails demand and consume, Twitter feeds and inspires. While emails are a burden, Twitter is an inspiration.

I used to read two or three newspapers a day, now the only daily I read is the wonderful Brighton Argus. People criticise the Argus, but we would sorely miss it if it was not there. The cause for turning my back on daly papers is Twitter. I get far more information through Twitter, access to good writing, and most of all, I am entertained.

I follow too many people. It is said that it is possible to effectively follow a maximum of 150 people. I know I skim read my Twitter feed but there are those Brighton folk whose posts I always read including @Tony_Mernagh @huxley06 @robert_nemeth @ridgwaytim @brightonargus @BHcitynews @ChSuptBartlett @LisaSaysThis @ValeriePearce @RichDB_Brighton @IanChisnall @MelitaRadio @OurDaughtersUK @AMOQI @bonettpa @ArgusBizness and, in the interest of political balance, @chrishawtree @CoxGraham and @ThePennyDrops as well as my 45 or so @bht_sussex colleagues who are on Twitter. An absolute delight is @davemarthur who invariably makes me laugh or otherwise reminds me of my political roots. Apologies to those I have not mentioned – the list was getting rather long.

Being followed by famous people can be very flattering until you realise that three of the ‘big names’ who follow me follow thousands, even tens of thousands of people. I was thrilled when Desmond Tutu followed me. It wasn’t a fake account, it was actually the Tutu Foundation, sadly not the great man himself.

But back to my main point, not keeping up with the jargon. I have sympathy for David Cameron. I too thought LOL was “lots of love” although it is something I have never tweeted, and certainly never to Rebekah Brooks! I regularly RT but I hadn’t realised that I also MT. Apparently I have been MT-ing for months. I learned today that one should insert MT if you have modified a tweet, MT standing for ‘Modified Tweet’.

When I first joined Twitter I didn’t realise that to RT did not imply endorsement although, as was pointed out to me last year, a pattern of RT-ing can convey a message, such as the number of Tweets I re-Tweeted on the impact of welfare reform.

I had hoped that to MT was to offer some kind of endorsement, as in ‘meaningful tweet’. Alas, no. There are some tweets I would like to endorse. I would suggest ET but that acronym has already been taken.

I will continue to RT and try to remember to MT. When I do, it usually implies, but not always, endorsement from me, for what that is worth, which is probably not a lot! If you have yet to join Twitter, delay no more. A good starting place is to follow @AndyWinterBHT. How is that for a shameless bit of self-promotion!

Teaching an old dog new tricks – blogging and tweeting!

My colleague, Lucy Enever, has just begun blogging.  She is one of several members of staff who I have been encouraging to start blogging.  As my PA, I spend time with her most mornings, discussing the day ahead and reflecting on issues in the news and issues that impact on BHT. 

Often she has really a interesting perspective on issues, and it triggers my thinking.  Since I started blogging more consistently at the beginning of the year, our conversations have led to a number of posts.  (I have another blog, separate from work, on cricket, but I have spectacularly failed to blog consistently – it isn’t easy for someone at my age to learn new tricks!).

Because of her original thinking it was only natural that Lucy was one of the first members of staff I encouraged to start blogging, so I am delighted she has taken the plunge.  Her first post was about how she has been encouraging people in BHT to embrace new media, and how her pleadings had fallen on deaf ears.  What she didn’t say was the dinosaur was me!

I had played with my cricket blog, and was persuaded by Lucy to try Twitter. I originally found Twitter the most shallow networking forum in the world.  I was useless on Facebook, and appalled at the jargon (closing a Facebook account is called “Facebook Suicide” – disgusting).

Then over the Christmas holidays I read a couple of books that opened my eyes to the new reality of “new rules” for communication, PR and marketing.  While BHT has been quite successful in its PR output, the approach we were taking was PR of the 1980’s and 90’s.  We had to change, and new media is at the heart of it.

So, staff at BHT are being encouraged to blog, Tweet (I don’t think I will ever be comfortable with the jargon), and other things that I am yet to grasp.  By embracing a Thought Leadership approach, we don’t have to censor, restrict or police what is being said.  There are the normal expectations on personal conduct that apply to letters, emails and conversations. Of course racism, sexism, and other abusive behaviour is not ok, nor is commenting negatively about other organisations and individuals, directly or implied.

So, in 2010 I have entered a brave new world.  I am not sure if I am doing it right, but I guess this old dog is learning new tricks.  Thanks, Lucy.