By Adrian Zorzut, London Democracy Reporter
A teenager has turned his parents’ living room into a makeshift processing centre for toiletry bags after his initiative that provides hygiene kits to homeless people took off.
Rohan Mehta was given the Young Achiever award by Kensington and Chelsea council and recognised with a civic honour by Hammersmith and Fulham council for his work in helping rough sleepers in London.
The 17-year-old Latymer Upper School student founded In The Bag, a voluntary initiative handing out cost-free hygiene kits to the homeless from leftover airline toiletry bags, two years ago.
The life-changing kits are packed with essentials like soaps, shampoo, a toothbrush and toothpaste as well as a printed note reminding recipients they are seen and valued and a short handbook outlining job-seeking skills.
The philanthropic teen said: “When I was really small and I’d see someone homeless on the street, I would ask my parents, ‘Oh, could we give them a little bit of money to get some food, or buy them something to eat?’ I always knew I wanted to do something to be part of the solution so when I got a little bit older, I thought, what tangible stuff could I do?”
Rohan approached several homeless shelters, organisations and charities in his area and asked them what they needed. The overwhelming response was for basic toiletries.
He said: “I wanted to create something practical that could really help people, not just raise awareness, but give them something that could make them feel a little bit better, give them back some of their dignity, that’s why I wanted to start In The Bag.”
At the age of 15 he started repurposing leftover airline kits his dad had got from travelling but quickly realised they lacked essentials and began collecting donations from dentists and hotel chains near his West London home. His family’s living room quickly became inundated with shower gels, shampoos, conditioners, toothbrushes and toothpaste.
He tailored kits according to the needs of each organisation he supplied and eventually replaced airline bags with drawstring pouches purchased from Amazon because they were easier for rough sleepers to carry around.
The teen said: “When you’re homeless, you don’t have access to a lot of these things and when you’re able to stay in a shelter overnight, for example, if you’re able to clean yourself up properly, it makes you feel a lot better.
“When I started studying economics, I started getting this idea of a job-seeking element to this and the whole cycle of poverty and I realised how incredibly difficult it was to break that. You really cannot have a job interview if you do not look presentable, so I wanted to do my part in sort of breaking that barrier because it’s really, really difficult.”
To date, Rohan has donated around 130 bags and turned his family’s living room into an assembly line in the process.
Included in those kits are printed notes saying things like ‘We see you, we care about you’ or ‘We hope this brightens your day, tomorrow will be a better day’.
Rohan said: “I think it’s really, really important, when we’re donating, to remind people we care about them because that is, in essence, the whole part of the bag. We want to remind people that we see them.”
His efforts have been recognised by two London councils. In March, he was handed the Young Achiever’s Award by the Mayor of Kensington and Chelsea. In April, he was given a civic honour by Hammersmith and Fulham council for his contributions to building a stronger, safer, kinder borough.
He said: “I feel really grateful and humbled. It’s such a privilege to be recognised for the work and helping the vulnerable in our communities but what I’m most excited about is that the recognition draws attention to the issue of homelessness and how all the young people can get involved in their own communities.”
Rohan’s mother Sonal said it was incredibly special seeing her son receive two awards in such a short period.
She said: “As a parent, you always want your kid to be kind and thoughtful, and to see that actually recognised with two awards felt very special for me because he’s worked so hard to make a difference in people’s lives and it’s moving to see how committed he is to helping others.”
Rohan was one of 15 winners of the Mayor’s Awards on March 27 in a ceremony where recipients were put forward by members of the community and chosen by a judging panel to receive an award due to their work improving the lives of those who live, work, study and visit the borough.
Pictured top: Rohan Mehta won an award from Kensington and Chelsea Council in March (Picture: Facundo Arrizabalaga)
