Hi everyone, Ive just got back and Im almost starting to warm up after another Friday night on the streets of newcastle. Weve been doing our walk about tonight, handing out bags, packed lunches and also leaflets about places to go for help and details of destiny church, where we will be tomorrow, taking orders and again, making sure our friends have some food. We had two new team members joining us for the first time tonight, I would like to say a huge thank you to Kardene and Jordanne who were thrown in at the deep end tonight but coped fantastically. I dont think you ladies understand how much we appreciated your help tonight, having an extra two people meant we could split into separate groups and cover a much wider area, meaning we were able to help more people in half the time. Thank you also to the rest of the team who were out tonight, youre all an asset to what we do and I appreciate you giving up your spare time to come our with us each week more than you will ever know! We met at moment tonight at 7, where we were greeted by our friend in the wheelchair and his partner, who were both smiling and looking refreshed and happy. They thanked us for the meal we sent them for last weekend and told us how much they had enjoyed it. Like I said last night, it was the least we could so for them. We gave them some food to see them through the week and also some pasta, a bit of birthday cake from my little girls party and some crisps and chocolate. Not much, but enough to keep them going and make them smile. The guy then told me that he has bought a gift for my little girl, as it was her birthday on Monday, and he would give me it tomorrow night. I was so touched that he had remembered it had been her birthday and had gone out of his way to get a present for her. Its the little things like this that make what we do so amazing. Its what true friendship is about, doing something to make someone smile when you didnt have to. Its also what making winter warmer is all about, so its wonderful to know our friends share our values. They had brought along another guy, who they said could do with our help, so I sat and chatted with him for a bit and gave him all of the details about how to put an order in with us and where to come on a Saturday night. We also gave him some food which he was chuffed to bits with, especially the chocolate!! As we were sitting, a few others came passed and asked if we had any food on tonight, so again we gave them one of our packed lunch bags each. As we were about to leave, our friend in the wheelchair told us of another very young lad who he had seen earlier who looked like he desperately needed help. He told us where they had seen him so we split up into two groups and my group went off in his direction. Maria and her group headed up towards the top end of town, while we walked down towards the quayside and central station way. It was only about five minutes down the road when we bumped into one of the guys we have been helping for a while. Hes always out with his dog and we always try to make sure they have some food and we get some warm clothes to him. I sat with him to see how he had been and he told me he was fed up as he has just had to pay £50 for a vet bill for his dog, £50 he didnt have, but as she is his only companion and makes life on the streets easier and safer for him, he had to try and find the money to pay. I asked if he could not have went to the PDSA, but as he has no fixed address, he isnt able to. This is the vicious circle that a lot of our street friends are stuck in, no money to get a house, no address to get any money. We chatted for a bit and I gave him one of our packed lunches and offered him a rucksack, but he said he would come up and see us tomorrow to pop an order in as he still has some bits left from his last one. I love that. Not taking just because its there to take, but knowing that someone else may need it more than he does right now. We went on from there and walked further down, where we found another lad who although he seemed in good spirits, looked as though he had been badly beaten up within the last few weeks. Again we stopped and chatted and I gave him one of our bags and some food. I hadnt met this lad before but told him all of the details about what we do and where to find us, hopefully well see him tomorrow night. Further down and another young lad, this time someone I met a few weeks ago, and I was delighted to see he still had his sleeping bag, tucked safe away in one of the waterproof bags made for us by Jo from Voda Volunteering. He seemed in much better spirits than he had been last time I seen him. I asked how he had been and again, gave him flyers with details of destiny church and another rucksack. As he already had his army sleeping bag which we had given him, he told us to keep the one which was attached to the rucksack and pass it on to someone else, again, kindness and compassion from people who have next to nothing. I think when you have been or are down, then you truly understand how it feels, if youve never been in that place, you dont understand how much you need others to help you, if you have, then you become the person who wants to help. As we crossed the road and walked back up the other side, we came across another guy, who again I had not met before, and his beautiful dog, blitz. I stopped and chatted with the guy and told him who we are and what we do. He hadnt heard of us before but was happy to know we are out there and we are looking for people just like him so we can help them. We gave him a rucksack and a bag of food and the first thing he done was open the sandwich, take half out and gave it to blitz. He looked at me and said he comes first, I make sure he is fed and then Ill have mine again, true love and companionship. A lot of people question why people on the streets have dogs when they cant afford to feed themselves, any dog lover will be able to answer that, love, warmth, companionship, protection, unconditional friendship, someone to fall asleep next to at night. On hearing this, I took another sandwich out of the bag and gave it to him so they could have a full one each. He had a little rummage through the bag of food and told us blitz loves crisps, so he opened one of the packets we gave him and poured it on the floor for him and smiled as he watched him sniff about and enjoy having some food. We left them to enjoy their food together and walked towards where the couple had said they had seen the young lad earlier, but he was nowhere to be seen. We headed back up to the car to get some more bags and meet up with the other team to see how their night had been going. As we were waiting for them a few of our friends who come to destiny church passed and one of the girls asked if we had any clothes or food. Luckily the only bag we had left was a girls so we gave that to her and sorted them all out some food and told them we will see them tomorrow to take any orders from them. After replenishing our stock, we split up again and headed off towards central station, where we met another young lad sat outside Greggs. We sat with him for a bit and done our usual thing, telling him where he can get help and and where he can come to find us. We gave him one of our bags but again, were told by him that he already had a sleeping bag so we could pass the one attached to the bag to someone else. One of our team members, Kurt, asked if he wanted anything from Greggs but he said he would be ok now because we had given him food for the night. We had a little laugh about him choosing to sit next to Greggs and it being a good spot and I joked that he should sit near a different food establishment every night and he would hopefully get a varied diet. It was lovely to see him laughing and joking and just being a normal lad. In those moments I think everyone forgets why we are there and we are all just human beings sharing a joke and enjoying each others company. Our street friends dont get many moments like that from strangers on the streets. We headed off further down, where we found another young lad who looked quite new to the streets. Again I had never met this lad so I stopped and introduced myself to him. He seemed a really nice lad and I was in the middle of telling him about destiny church, when another young lad, possibly living rough, walked past and started shouting at him telling him he was in someone else spot. The other lad was very aggressive and I could tell the lad we were sitting with was slightly intimidated, so I tried to calm it down as much as I could and explained to the other lad that he wasnt causing any bother and we were just sitting chatting with him and giving him some food, he seemed to calm down a bit and carried on walking but I felt so sorry for the other lad, knowing that he would probably be worried for his safety for the rest of the night, even more so than usual. I suggested that he moved and found somewhere else to sit, and when I drove passed later on it looked like he had taken my advice. Hopefully he has a safe night and we see him tomorrow at destiny church. As we moved on we came to an older guy, who Maria and I made an emergency trip to see last Saturday night after receiving a phone call from one of the team telling us she was sitting with him and he had nothing. We took him a bag last week and shelle and her partner bought him some food, but when we seen him tonight he told us all the stuff we had given him had been stolen and he had nothing left. By this time we were all out of bags, but I promised him I would come and find him tomorrow with some stuff for him. We had some food left so gave him some of that and also gave him a few bottles of water for him and his dog. A few people stopped as we were chatting to him and gave him some change, and said hello to him, which I thanked them for, not my place I know, but I am grateful that they acknowledged him and didnt just walk past and pretend he didnt exist. We had a few bits of food left and also some leaflets about destiny church, so we crossed over the road where there was a guy sitting outside a bar, with crutches. We went over to talk with him and as we got closer I seen a young girl sitting next to him, clearly on a night out. My first thought was that he might have been getting hassled but as I walked closer I noticed her partner standing next to them and I seen she was cuddling the guy. When we sat down and explained who we were she looked really shocked and then said to me I love this, Im so glad you are doing this and youve come to help him she told me she had lost her purse on her night out, with all her bank cards in it and she was heart broken because she couldnt do anything to help him, she had no money to buy him any food or anything. I said not to worry and gave him some food, we only had a few bits left but he was super grateful for it. I explained to him that he could come to destiny church to put an order in for anything he needed and he told me he could really so with a sleeping bag, he was shivering and almost blue with the cold. Luckily we had one left over which had been given back to us earlier, so we gave that to him. He was over the moon with it, and upon seeing how happy he was, the young girl burst into tears. I had to go and give her a cuddle and told her not to worry and that there were people out there doing everything they can to make sure he is safe and that I thought she was amazing for sitting with him. I gave her one of our flyers and urged her to join our group, thats the type of caring people we need helping us and our street friends. As we made our way back up to the car, I spotted another lad sitting a little further up, as I walked over to him to give him our last flyer, he looked up at me and it was a face I recognised but havent seen for a long time. I met Chris on my first ever night out in newcastle handing our rucksacks. Chris received the first rucksack we ever made up, and his story touched me so much that I decided what I was doing would not just be a one off thing, but I would do my everything to make sure it carried on and we helped more people like Chris. He had been caring for his grandparents but they had became so ill that it was best for them to be put into care. After making the decision, they were forced to sell their house to pay for the care, meaning Chris had nowhere to live. When I met him last November, while we were filming with sky news, he had been on the streets for 6 months. That was the first and last time I met Chris and I have thought about him a lot since. I was so moved by meeting him that making winter warmer became more than just a campaign, but a passion for me that I just had to carry on with. I look out for him every week and have done for almost a year and tonight I finally got to know that he is safe. As I walked over to him and recognised him, I said Chris, can you remember me? I met you a year ago? and he looked up at me and said bloody hell youve got a good memory I explained to him why he stuck in my mind and what has came from that first time I gave him a rucksack, at which he was pretty amazed, his exact words were Im so glad something good has came from this meaning his situation. Im so glad he was the first person I met, because he was such a nice person and so so grateful, I just knew in that instant that there were lovely, genuine people out there that needed our help. I asked here he had been for the last year and he told me he had been in prison. Such a strange feeling to be pleased to hear someone has been in prison for the last year, but it means I know he hasnt been out on the streets for the last year, hiding away in a park or down a back lane, hes been warm, hes been fed and hes been safe to an extent. I said this to him and he grabbed his tummy and said oh yeah, Ive been fed alight I told him to come up to see us tomorrow night so I can chat with him a bit more and get anything he needs, it was a really lovely way to end the night. Back at the beginning where it all first started. Its amazing to see how far we have come and the things we have achieved, thank you so much for all your help. You can find the very first video we ever made, which features Chris and a very nervous me and Jo, here vimeo/m/81554623 this was not quite one year ago, the first bag we ever handed out, which has led on to us handing out over 700 more since that day. Well done team. One love x
Posted on: Fri, 03 Oct 2014 23:10:37 +0000
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