Our football-mad connector Russell Todd launched a World Cup Sweepstake in mid-June with the intention to split proceeds between the overall winner and homelessness charity The Wallich.

 

The Wallich is Wales' largest homelessness charity that you may not have heard of. Its aims are to get, and to keep, people off the street - Mike described homelessness as 'a revolving door,' which is why the charity put so much emphasis on supporting their clients and helping them to develop skills and further their education, in an effort to assist independent living.

 

Incidentally, homelessness is not always visible - as well as rough sleepers, the term encapsulates sofa-surfers, those living in emergency accomodation or at B&Bs, and children at risk of being excluded from the family home, which is why The Wallich offer mediation services.

 

At indycube, we're on a real mission to support the self-employed an independent workers, who are unfortunately a hugely precarious group at the moment, with 76% of self-employed people earning below the poverty line. You're twice as likely to have a mental health problem if you're self employed - this is a bit of double edged sword; it's not necessarily that self-employment causes mental health problems, but rather that those living with mental health issues are more likely to choose self employment, for various reasons. Interestingly, The Wallich are currently hosting a project designed to support those with an offending background who might like to become self-employed - we'd like to help them in some way with this, so watch this space.

 

We're really pleased to have been able to open a dialogue with The Wallich - in our current climate, it's so important to engage with support structures and to initiate conversations. There's a facade surrounding self-employment, a tendency to always say 'business is booming' even when it isn't. Some of this comes down to legislation, which, with the help of our members, we are campaigning to change, but it's also important that we communicate.