Most weeks I head off to Parliament on the train each Monday morning. But this week is different. I'm working in a community for homeless people in Bristol - the Emmaus Centre in the Dings neighbourhood. It's not far from St Paul's, and a very long way from the dreaming spires of Westminster.

The aim is to get my hands dirty. I'm working alongside the homeless so I can see what life is like for the most vulnerable people in modern Britain. It's easy for MPs to get detached from reality in Westminster, but this ought to be a pretty good antidote.

The Emmaus Centre is a really impressive place, with some amazing people. Its motto is that it offers homeless people a bed, and a reason to get out of it. It isn't just providing homeless people with a clean, safe place to live, although that would be a step up for many of them. It is offering - and expecting - a lot more as well.

To start with, homeless people in Emmaus have to sign off all their benefits, except for housing. That means they're all on the same level; everyone is equal. Then they have to commit to no drink on the premises, or drugs. And they have to do 40 hours work a week in the Emmaus workshop, repairing second-hand furniture for sale in its warehouse.

All this rebuilds their self-confidence by proving they can cope with normal life. But the chance to help other homeless people in the centre is a big piece of it too. Helping other people turns out to be an essential part of rebuilding a life for many people in an Emmaus community. It's a step on the road back into normal society for them. It's probably not a bad motto for the rest of us either.