Barnstaple Poverty Action Group (B.P.A.G) Experience from The Secret Millionaire:

As my business interest is in housing I wanted to find out what it's like at perhaps the extreme end of the homelessness chain and found a group in Barnstaple that were helping the homeless as well as providing additional services such as intensive tenancy support, rural outreach and various financial inclusion projects. I helped out as a volunteer and met with Julie who is one of the liaison(/rural outreach) officers, working as a link or outreach person for the homeless. Julie invited me to join her as a volunteer on her daily routine of getting out and about speaking to homeless people and 'sofa surfers' (persons with no permanent address). We got up early on the first morning , met up with Abbi who is employed by the North Devon Council and visited likely spots where we might find people sleeping rough - Julie used the term 'rough sleepers '. I was shocked with what I saw: rough sleepers in makeshift tents which were basically branches bent over with a polythene sheet thrown over, nick named 'benders'. Both Julie and Abbi were so compassionate towards the rough sleepers, most of who were situated outside of the town.

I started asking a number of questions as to why they were there and the common answer I received sickened me as the rough sleepers replied '...we have to sleep here outside the town otherwise we fear for our safety. We will get our heads kicked in". It made me consider what a state our society has got into when a homeless person gets beaten up for no apparent reason - although others may disagree with this view.  Mike and Kelly, who I met on the streets of Ilfracombe, invited me back to their tent on a hillside, way outside the town. I shared hours in their company, well into the night, as they told me exactly what it's like to be living on tiny benefit money with no self-worth as a result of people spitting at them and beating them up. Mike said that if he was lucky enough to get into secondary level rented accommodation that he would rather the landlords get paid the rent money direct.


The reason for this was because he was only going to spend the money on cider if given a lump sum under the as-he-called-it '...stupid idea Government has of paying tenants directly'. Mike went on to say that every person he knows on benefits feels exactly the same way. He did not know that I am one of the largest private sector landlords in the UK and I found his comments extremely interesting. It would seem that direct payments by the Government through Local Housing Allowance/Housing Benefit is having an adverse effect on recipients in that it appears to be encouraging people to binge drink and smoke or take drugs rather than for the intended purpose: to understand how to handle money.

Julie was showing the rough sleepers how to set financial cash flows to set budgets for their money, something very close to my heart as this forms part of what I teach potential property investors . Julie commented: "You see Kevin, they are not taught how to budget and run a simple home in school". I wholeheartedly agreed with Julie. Mike and Kelly praised Julie in particular for the meal parcels and support she offered them both. Those times in Mike and Kelly's tent and their story of what an angel Julie was will stick in my mind forever. I spent hours with Julie, a very humble lady, speaking to a whole host of less fortunate people.


The next huge shock came to me when I realised how far out of town some of the rough sleepers were. Julie said that she did not have the resources to reach everyone and while Abbi was employed by the Council and was obviously doing a great service, neither Abbi or Julie could spend enough time on the ground to reach all rough sleepers in out laying areas. Julie told me of rough sleepers who do not appear on the register and are seen perhaps not to exist and die miles away from the town in a wood or similar whose bodies are never found. This was compounded by an article I came across in the North Devon Journal ( a copy of which I have kept) where a rough sleeper had died unnecessarily. I asked Julie: "If someone was to wave a magic wand what would she wish for?". Her response was immediate, she said: "I would like to train volunteer workers to go as outreach workers to help the needy - rough sleepers who are in the outlaying areas and who are too frightened to come into town to the soup kitchens for help". She quoted a figure and stated that BPAG could not get funding from usual sources for this as the project proposal had never been done in UK. This excited me, the thought of supporting Julie, a lady who works all hours in her Florence Nightingale type quest to help rough sleepers in outreach areas. I realised that if this project could get off the ground and have a proven track record, then external funding sources would be easier. I funded Julie's wish for a part-time worker to help her train six volunteer workers. What a wonderful feeling it was knowing the difference that my contribution will make, with the added bonus that this would not be a one-off donation and finish. Ongoing support is more likely to take the form of a project that will be sustainable in the longer term and a model that other UK organisations can follow.

Barnstaple Poverty Action Group (BPAG) is an independent community based charity that provides a range of services to people across Northern Devon who are experiencing crisis and hardship. Established 13 years ago, BPAG works to prevent and resolve homelessness, rough sleeping and to reduce the impact of poverty and financial exclusion.



BPAG currently operates a range of projects across Northern Devon. These include:

A range of front-line services aimed at resolving homelessness and rough sleeping, including street work

Four specialist projects aiming to prevent and reduce rough sleeping and homelessness among young people between the ages of 16 and 25

Two Intensive Tenancy Support projects with major Registered Social Landlords in Northern Devon

A specialist financial capability project aimed at improving the financial skills of young people aged between 16 and 25

Gateway Outreach project (Social Prescription)

Rural Outreach project 

Various money advice and financial inclusion projects in some of the areas