TOLO (Take One Leave One), is an organisation which first started up in London by a journalist named Stefan Simanowitz. Through social media he “built an army” of volunteers successfully spreading to Newcastle and then to Leeds.
Dan, a volunteer at Leeds TOLO said he saw a tweet on the Newcastle TOLO and felt “inspired” to contact the central team of volunteers. From then on he began setting up the TOLO in Leeds and has stayed on as a volunteer ever since.
“The premise is that if you can donate any warm clothing, we can provide a donation spot that you can drop the clothes off to.” He said. The volunteers then package the clothing and anyone is able to collect them. Dan mentioned that there is absolutely no discrimination when it comes to who they help out.
“It is not just the homeless who come to us for help, a lot of parents come to us for warm clothes for their children too.”
A typical week for TOLO volunteer consists of advertising, finding new spots around the city to set up and sometimes put up “emergency rails” when the weather is undeniably bad.
“Homelessness is a growing problem, a lot more women are being seen out on the streets which is shocking as there is a lot more help for women out there in comparison to men. When you see women who are sleeping rough or out on the streets you can see that it Is getting worse.” He followed on to say.
After the year we have had with the economy and unemployment this was clearly inevitable. TOLO are active on multiple social media platforms such as Twitter and Instagram where you can find them under the @TOLOLeeds.
“We are always on lookout for volunteers, come join us!”
