Jeremy Corbyn with Streets Kitchen and Amnesty UK staff braving the weather at the festival

NO amount of rain could dampen spirits at the seventh annual Streets Fest in Finsbury Park.

There was help for homeless people including barbers, housing support, clothing, hot food and medical screenings at the event last Thursday.

Jon Glackin, from the homelessness support group Streets Kitchen, who organises much of the festival, said: “There’s a real feeling of solidarity here that makes it easy for people to access services.”

There were also musical, dramatic and spoken word perfor­mances throughout the day organised by Islington People’s Theatre, which emphasises working with vulnerable or marginalised groups.

Jorawar Singh Rathour, left, and Safdar, from London Homeless Welfare Team

Lauren Cowan, senior outreach and community worker at Women@TheWell, a support service for women in King’s Cross, said: “The best thing about Streets Fest is being together with so many different people and for people to share informa­tion and have a sense of safety for an afternoon.

“It’s also enlightening for women to see all these organisations working together, and it builds trust.”

London Homeless Welfare Team (LHWT) were handed out clothing and bottled water. LHWT meets rough sleepers where they are, providing clothing, food and medical aid, and it was one of the first groups to distribute “defence packs” to homeless people during the pandemic, including water, masks and hand sanitiser.

Matt and Gill from Museum of Homelessness, and Jon Glackin from Streets Kitchen

Founder Jorawar Singh Rathour, who set up LHWT in 2020 after having been homeless himself, said: “I am just ecstatic and so proud of what we’ve built in such a short time. The real beauty of this work is seeing people develop and change and come out of a profound darkness and for them to know that people are actually genuinely there to help them.”

Islington North MP Jeremy Corbyn also braved the wet weather to enjoy some music in the park.

He said: “Well done Streets Kitchen; well done all those that work with and give respect to rough sleeping homeless people or people in housing stress. This is a great event, it brings everyone together and despite the cold and the rain we’re having a great time. We’re all singing in the rain.”