ShowerBox

ShowerBox is running outside Birmingham Cathedral in Cathedral Square every Tuesday from 9 am to 2 pm. It's a mobile shower unit run by volunteers that brings free, secure showers to people experiencing homelessness, with dignity at its core. The Birmingham unit launched in April 2024, and it runs alongside the cathedral's wider community work.

It's not a new project, though. ShowerBox started in London in 2018 as a crowdfunding project at St Giles in the Fields, founded by Sarah Lamptey MBE, a former volunteer with several homeless organisations who later received an MBE in the King's Birthday Honours List for her services to homeless people. Since then, the organisation has grown to four shower trailers, including a permanent container holding two showers. Across those sites, they've provided around 15,000 showers, 10,000 pairs of underwear and 4,000 haircuts.

In Birmingham, the unit sits alongside Let's Feed Brum, which also sets up every Tuesday to offer food, hot drinks, signposting and a friendly face. Local businesses like Baylis & Harding and Harborne Garages have supported the work, and the team has been featured by BBC Birmingham and the Greater Birmingham Chamber of Commerce.

If you're around the city centre on a Tuesday morning, you'll find them in Cathedral Square, running from 9 am to 2 pm.