Soul app tackles homeless giving

Homelessness charity The Connection at St Martin’s is launching a mobile donation scheme, devised by its agency Soul, which aims to tackle once and for all the issue of handing over cash to those living on the streets.
The public have long been warned off giving cash to homeless people because the money is often spent on alcohol and drugs and only sustains the person’s homelessness. However, that is often when people feel most compelled to give.
But the Donate Locate App allows consumers to donate up to £5m to the charity when they see a homeless person, while at the same time recording their location on a hotspot map, enabling the charity’s outreach team to locate them.
The app has been developed to be used in The Connection’s catchment area of Westminster, but can be adapted for other homelessness charities operating in other areas.
Soul was originally approached to create a hard-hitting campaign on behalf of the charity to highlight some of the issues associated with giving money to people living on the street.
After launching the campaign throughout Westminster in August 2014 – with posters, beer mats and leaflets – the agency began looking at a solution to the issue, leading Soul to develop the concept of Donate Locate.
Independent mobile marketing agency Movement is responsible for the app build.
Beki Winter, street outreach manager of The Connection, said: “Soul has a real understanding of our work and has been deeply involved in everything we do and stand for. After seeing the Donate Locate app concept, we instantly felt it was right for us. It not only allows our outreach teams to help locate homeless people, it also empowers people so they can do something to help a rough sleeper away from the streets without giving money directly, which in the majority of cases does more harm than good. ”
Soul founding partner and creative director Shaun Moran said: “Donate Locate represents Soul’s philosophy; it started with people, not technology. The concept for the app came about when discussing the issue of begging and the dilemma people face when deciding whether to give some spare change to a homeless person – what will it be spent on? With this in mind, we discussed various ways of helping homeless people you see without giving them money directly; this thinking informs our Donate Locate app.
“The app the untimely benefits three audiences – the user, the outreach worker and the homeless person.”