Thread by @StefSimanowitz

1/. As freezing temperatures hit, we put a clothes rail outside a church with a sign:

IF YOU'RE COLD, TAKE ONE

IF YOU CAN HELP, LEAVE ONE

What happened next was miraculous

The rail filled with warm clothes

Rough sleepers helped themselves

The rail was replenished every day

2/. We'd asked the church & surrounding shops permission to keep the rail there for 2 weeks to see how it went

It ended up staying for 4 months & returned each winter...& the idea spread

#TakeOneLeaveOne rails popped up around the UK, US, Canada & beyond
metro.co.uk/2019/02/07/kin…

3/. The idea came from a Tweet I'd seen in 2017 from a woman who'd set up a rail outside her taco store in Texas

She'd got the idea after seeing a similar concept in Mexico

It shows the power of an idea

A simple idea that is necessary & "sticky" #TOLO

https://twitter.com/Take1_Leave1/status/1232803865503895553

4/. Now in it's 3rd winter, #TakeOneLeaveOne launched ystdy, a day after @ONS figures revealed that 778 rough sleepers died on Britain's streets last year

To find out more about #TOLO & how you can easily set up a rail wherever you are, see this THREAD 👇

https://twitter.com/Take1_Leave1/status/1338609037664014337

5/. “When the rain is blowing in your face
And the whole world is on your case
I could offer you a warm embrace
To make you feel my love” @ilanalorraine

All #TakeOneLeaveOne can do is “offer a warm embrace”

What is needed is govt action

Ending homeless is not a Utopian dream.

6/. “Walk on through the wind
Walk on through the rain
Though your dreams be tossed & blown
Walk on, walk on
With hope in your heart”

Whilst number of #homeless ppl in UK & US continues to rise, Finland has shown that eradicating #homelessness is possible

7/. This thread might have given you a warm fuzzy feeling

That’s not it’s point

It’s point is for it to spread

1. Get a rail

2. Find good location

3. Get permission of locals

4. Make/order a sign (£30)

5. Set up sanitising station

5. Hang clothes

8/. “As a man changes his own nature, so does the attitude of the world change towards him. We need not wait to see what others do” (Gandhi)

"IF YOU'RE HUNGRY TAKE ONE"

If it's summer 'cos you're in the Southern hemisphere, #TakeOneLeaveOne still works.

https://twitter.com/Take1_Leave1/status/1249017893402148868

With freezing temperatures hitting Britain, #TakeOneLeaveOne offers a simple way to help rough sleepers this winter

If you want to help, all you need to set one up is a clothes rail, a banner & the goodwill of local people

#TOLO in the @BigIssue today.
bigissue.com/latest/take-on….