Bristol charity offers new way to help the homeless
Billy Chip is gaining international attention since launching in 2018
Last updated 13th Dec 2021
If you want to help the homeless this Christmas there's a new way to do it, thanks to a young charity founded in Bristol.
Billy Chip allows you to buy special tokens, which if you give to a homeless person, they can then exchange for a hot drink or food at participating cafes.
It was set up in 2018 in memory of Billy Abernethy-Hope by his family; he died in Thailand in 2018 aged just 20.
Now, just three years later and having had the pandemic to deal with, more than 50 venues have signed up to the scheme across the UK, as far apart as Kirkcaldy in Scotland and Falmouth in Cornwall.
The idea has also drawn international attention including from media outlets in Germany and Switzerland.
Megan Abernethy-Hope, Billy's sister, is one of the co-founders.
"The concept of the Billy Chip is a token scheme that enables the homeless to be able to go into coffee shops and order their own drinks, so tea, coffee, bottles of water and in some of our outlets even food," she said.
"The Billy Chip is a £2 token. It's sort of the size and shape of a poker chip...it's got Billy Chip written on it and on the other side it's got a QR code on it, that you can scan and that will show you where our nearest outlets are."
The charity's birth
Billy, who provided the inspiration for the idea, was killed in a freak motorbike accident three years ago.
Alongside Megan, his dad Jon Hope set up the charity in his memory.
"He'd come up with this idea when talking to my dad and saying to him, 'you come home and you just chuck your change from your back pocket into a pot, yet you still step over somebody in the street who could really do with that."
Jon responded saying he worried about giving homeless people cash in case it was used to fund an addiction. Hence, after Billy's death the charity was born to eradicate that fear among people who otherwise, would want to help.
Across Bristol and Bath outlets that have signed up to date include Better Food at Whapping Wharf, Sevier Street and on Whiteladies Road, Biblos in Stokes Croft and Cascara on Upper Borough Walls in Bath.
We spoke to Megan in Boswells Cafe in the Galleries, one of Billy Chip's newest recruits.
"We've now got an office, there's four of us in that office and we're nationwide," she said.
"It's great. It's absolutely incredible."
Billy Chip's Christmas message
In Billy's memory, Megan wants more and more people to pick up the tokens from participating cafes and even try and get more to sign up.
"All we want people to do is, this Christmas while you're out Christmas shopping, whilst you've popped in to catch up with some friends in the town and you see people on the streets, pop into your local coffee shop and just say, 'hey, I was listening to the radio or I was scrolling online and I saw this thing called the Billy Chip, and wouldn't it be amazing if you signed up to it',"
For businesses that are interested it costs you nothing to sign up and nothing to run because it's members of the public who pay for the chips.
Meanwhile, volunteers who get new businesses to join the network can be entered into prize draws for things including tickets to comedy shows.
"We've just given away tickets to go and see Russell Howard in London on his tour, with a night's stay," Megan said.
If you want to find out more about the charity head to their website here.