News / homelessness
Billy’s legacy of kindness helps people who are homeless in Bristol
A man with “a heart of gold” has inspired a unique scheme that aims to spread kindness and help people living on the streets in Bristol.
“Billy cared so much about people he didn’t even know,” says Meg Abernethy-Hope, speaking about her late brother, a non-emergency care assistant who died in a motorbike crash in Thailand in March 2018, when he was only 20.
She is sitting in a booth in Tincan Coffee on North Street, one of the growing number of independent cafes that have signed up as partners of Billy Chip, a initiative launched in Billy’s honour that enables people to purchase a token and hand it to someone who is homeless to be traded for a hot drink.
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Billy came up with the simple idea soon before he went travelling to Thailand. He questioned why more people didn’t pass on change or stop and talk to people living on the streets. The answer was that many feared enabling a drug or alcohol addiction through their actions or felt awkward too awkward to stop and chat.
Some months after her brother’s death, Meg and her parents decided to launch the scheme in his honour. The story attracted the attention of rapper Professor Green, who asked Meg to speak in one of his videos and he went on to perform at a big memorial festival held in the family’s garden in Chew Valley, which helped to raise the funds to get Billy Chip off the ground.
“We knew we wanted to set up a charity, but we wanted something that was sustainable and self-funding that would help people at the same time,” explains Meg. The family have set up the B A Hope Foundation in Billy’s memory, which offers grants to support homeless charities.
Professor Green and Meg Abernethy-Hope. Photo courtesy of Meg Abernethy-Hope
A memorial festival for Billy Abernethy-Hope was held in the family’s garden in Chew Valley. Photo by Phil Richards
The Billy Chip scheme is a social enterprise. People buy the chip from participating venues for £2 and the cafe is reimbursed the cost price of the coffee after it is traded in. At least £1 from each chip bought goes into the foundation.
Speaking about the launch of the initiative in December 2019, Meg says: “It took off really quickly, it was really nice that people wanted to be a part of it.”
She says it’s been a really healing process not just for Billy’s family, but also his friends, who all keep Billy Chips in their pockets to hand out when they see people on the streets.
“It’s really hard to lose someone but we can find some good out of it,” Meg tells Bristol24/7. “We started this because there are people who just need a bit of help.”
The 23-year-old and her dad, Jon Hope, run the enterprise from the family’s kitchen. They have recently partnered with Arthur David food wholesalers, whose drivers will distribute the chips to cafes to keep down the carbon footprint.
Each of the specially-designed tokens features Billy’s smiling face and the message “you’re fabulous and don’t you ever forget it”. It was the message written by Billy on a card to his mum, Sarah, just before he went away.
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Meg says the response from people who have received the chips has been positive. “People have said how much it means to them,” she says.
“It’s the most humbling thing ever. We know this is not going to solve homelessness but just to have someone go out of their way and buy a chip and then take the time to stop and talk can make all the difference.”
Billy Chip has recently partnered with Boston Tea Party, which will stock the tokens in six of its Bristol cafes. Meg believes the model has the potential to grow, and she has already received interest from people in other countries.
She adds: “There was a boy in this world who cared so much about people and that’s why we did this.”
Jon, Meg, Sarah and Billy. Photo courtesy of Meg Abernethy-Hope
The ambition is for Billy Chip to expand globally. Photo courtesy of Meg Abernethy-Hope
Main photo courtesy of Meg Abernethy-Hope
Video courtesy of Charlie Dean
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