About this speaker
Born and raised in Yorkshire, Liz moved to Medway 7 years ago. With a background in Retail management and over 20 years in recovery, working in the homeless sector was never the plan! However, a chance meeting with a Homeless gentleman, Richard, in London, who soon became a friend was the catalyst for Liz and her husband to found One Big Family in 2014. The initial idea was to provide "essential packs" to Rough Sleepers.. Some 6 years later, and still run entirely by volunteers (a wonderful team of over 50 people) One Big Family have run a Soup Kitchen in Medway for 4 years, an Emergency Winter Refuge in Chatham for 3 years (providing over 3000 beds), provided 24 hour support to rough sleepers who were accomodated in a local hotel during the Covid pandemic and now are running a Temporary supported housing project for Medway Council. Plus regularly supporting other statutory agencies with food parcels/home starter packs/furniture for clients. In 2017 the charity was privileged to be awarded the Pride in Medway award. Liz firmly believes a collaborative approach is the only way to make a lasting impact - so One Big Family have been an active members of several forums and Task/Finish groups for the last few years.
