Hi everyone, weve had a great night along at destiny church tonight, doing our usual thing and making sure that everyone who comes along to see us goes away with some food and some clean clothes/toiletries. We had another good turn out tonight, with a few new people coming along and also our regulars, who have now became our good friends. It was lovely to see everyone not having to wrap up and fighting the cold, it really makes a difference to our street friends when the weather is like this, however seeing them having to lug their heavy rucksacks with all their worldly goods in as well as their sleeping bags and whatever other small amount of belongings they had, with red flushed faces and sweat dripping from their brow, really makes you think that theres no escape and no rest for our street friends, even in this weather. They are always on the go, always being moved from place to place, unable to rest their feet and have a cold drink to cool down. In weather like this, we all like to sit down and take a breather, it wears you out, but imagine if every time you stopped for a moment to get your breath back and put down your heavy bags, you were moved on or got grief from the people you had sat next to.... Where do you go to escape from that and to get some peace? A lot of our street friends had quite bad sunburn from being outside all day, their skin was peeling and red, but they dont have any money for sun screen or after sun, so not only are they tired and hot, theyre also in pain, with burnt necks and shoulders, now imagine again, carrying your heavy rucksack, on your freshly sunburnt skin, unable to stop anywhere and rest or put down your bags. Its too hot to cover up, the weight of your bags is making you sweat and the only place you can stop and sit in the shade is a dirty back lane or a disused car park. This is summer for our street friends, no holidays, no beaches, no BBQs, just the same worries they have in the winter, spring and autumn, where they can get a meal, where they can rest, where they can get some water. When I started this group, people kept saying to me it will be summer soon, what you going to do then? My answer was always this exactly the same as we are doing now! It may be warmer but that does not for one moment mean our street friends can stop worrying. They still need our help, they still need clean clothes, food, toiletries and compassion. They still need to know that someone is looking out for them and that someone cares. Not only this but they have the problems I mentioned above, as well as still having to keep warm on a night time, it may be sunny and clammy through the day but I know not one of us would want to sleep in a car park over night without so much as a blanket, even in this weather. Yes, in the winter it can be life of death due to the freezing weather, but that doesnt mean that our street friends get off lightly in the summer. They still have the same long days and the same lonely nights, so please dont forget about them as you enjoy this lovely weather, remember you are very fortunate to be able to enjoy it. Tonight as I was driving into town I spotted woman about my age, sitting on dene street, I was running late to get to destiny church so i didnt stop, but once we had got our boxes in and set up, I nipped out to see if she was still there. She was still in the same spot so I went over to have a chat with her and tell her about what we do. She hadnt heard of our campaign but said she was in desperate need of some new clothes so I told her where we were and said we would be waiting for her if she wanted to come up and get herself sorted. On the way back up to destiny church I spotted another lad sat further up, so again I asked if he had heard of us and if he would like to come along and get something to eat. I had mentioned the clothes but as soon as I said there would be food, he shot up, picked up the newspaper he was sitting on and tucked it down his jacked and asked if he could follow me along. As he was standing up to come with me, I noticed a few groups of people walking past, who had obviously been to ladies day at the races. The looks they gave me and the lad were pretty disgusting, Im not sure why, I dont know if they thought I was just taking him or if they maybe thought that I was homeless too (my dreads tend to have that effect) but I was really taken aback by them. Nobody said anything, but the looks made me feel so small. Im strong enough to shrug it off and have a laugh about these narrow minded idiots, but some of our street friends arent. Those looks could be what pushes people over the edge. Theres just no need for it. I cant imagine ever seeing someone who is down and needs help and looking at them like they are a piece of crap... What actual human being does that? It just reaffirmed a thought I have quite often when Im in town on a Saturday night, I would much rather be with our street friends than with any of these people strutting up and down past the post bars in their expensive shoes, thinking they are the business when really they dont have an ounce of love inside them, not for themselves or for any of their brothers and sisters. Our street friends dont care what we turn up wearing, if our hair is a mess or were red faced and stressed, they take it upon themselves to help us and help each other, they ask if we are ok and even pick out clothes that they think would look good on us. They are real humans beings, real brothers and sisters. Last week Jo mentioned the young lad that they had found when they done their walk about, when I was chatting to the girls who had spoken with him, I worked out it was a lad we first met around Christmas, when we were making our video with robin from Voda. Hes a lovely lad and Ive spent a bit of time with him chatting and even begging with him on dene street, just to see what it felt like. Hes always very open and honest with me, telling me how he gets by on a daily basis. Last week the girls had told me he had been having a bit of bother and was reluctant to go to some of the soup kitchens. Hes really struggling at the moment because he ran up a debt of £80 at one of the hostels and now he is unable to get a place in any of them because of that. Hes currently sleeping in a car park, with very little to keep the rats away from him. Marie and Kate have been into town a few times this week to take him some food and bits. When Kate got there he wasnt there but she left some food for him, in a trolley in the hope he would get to it before the rats did. Luckily he found it and was really grateful for it. Marie went to see him as well and took him some food and bits down and stayed with him for about an hour having a chat. This is how #teamMWW differ from other organisations, none of the girls were asked to do this, they done it because they care. Because they met a young lad who needed help and they went that extra mile to make sure he got it. Thank you ladies, when I was chatting with him tonight, it was really clear he appreciated it. Tonight we also seen Jen and her boyfriend, the young girl we met a few weeks ago who had the rip in her trousers and wanted a hair brush as she had been unable to do her hair for ages and was really embarrassed about it. When I posted on here about meeting her, the wonderful Andi McAndrew, who helped us a to get our lovely couple, Ian and Stacey, ready for their date night by giving Stacey a free pamper day at her salon and arranging for Ian to get a hair cut, contacted me to say she would like to do the same for Jen, on top of that, we were also given some money from another one of our fantastic members, to pay for Jen and her boyfriend to go out for a meal. I hadnt seen them for a few weeks so I was over the moon when they came in tonight and came over to say hi. When I told Jen about the offer to get her hair done she was pretty amazed to be honest. She was almost in tears. She told me she had never been to a salon before and must have said thank you about 40 times!! I had totally forgot about the offer of a meal, until Jo reminded me, so I ran back over to them and told them and she was gobsmacked. She said do you mean like in a restaurant? Ive never been to a restaurant before either! That really got to me, imagine never ever going out somewhere nice for food, never even just stopping as you pass a cafe and sitting down to grab a bite. What a trivial thing this seems to us, yet to this girl, the same age as me, its a massive deal because shes never had the chance. Ive told them to come back next week and Ill have it all sorted out for them. Her boyfriend came over as they were leaving and pulled me aside to say thank you, not for him, but for her. He hasnt asked for a single thing every time Ive met them, unless it for her. He said I cant thank you lot enough, shes absolutely buzzing, cheers for giving her something to smile about. Thats true love. Thats human beings. I told Jen I would try to sort her some make up, especially mascara and also some size 5 shoes, she was wearing some old tatty sandals with a pair of dirty white socks, so if anyone has any of these, please let us know so we can arrange getting them to her. We are, as always, desperate for the usual items, mens clothing, sleeping bags, tents, toiletries, tinned and non perishable food, any camping gear, rucksacks and we will also be needing more help to make food up for this coming Saturday, so if anyone has anything they can donate or would like to help by baking a cake, making some sandwiches or a pan of soup or donating some bags of crisps or bottles of water, please let us know. We rely on your help each week to make sure the people we care about very much get fed and to make sure they all have whatever clothing it is they need, we really cant do it without you lot so please share like mad, ask around friends and family or even schools and work places and see what you can scrape together to help us. Even the smallest donation makes a huge difference. Dont forget you can also donate via our just giving page if you want to help but are unable to do anything physical. https://justgiving/makingwinterwarmer/ All of the money donated goes straight back to the homeless people of our region to make sure they have whatever it is we can help them with. We will also be looking for a few extra pairs of hands to help with our Saturday night outreach sessions. Its very fast paced and can be stressful and emotionally challenging at times, but it is also rewarding and fun. You need to be strong minded and strong willed to come along on Saturday nights, but if you think you have what it takes to join #teamMWW, please get in touch with me or one of the team. Thank you again to everyone at destiny church for your help each week, to everyone involved in finding our new base, to you lot for continually supporting us and helping us to support our street friends and to #teamMWW who have now become my very best friends, you ladies are fantastic, just a few months ago most of you didnt even know me yet you were happy to put your faith in a little idea I had, because of that faith, we have managed to create something beautiful, which is only going from strength to strength, while creating ever lasting friendships, between us, and the people we have met on the streets. One love to one and all x
Posted on: Sat, 26 Jul 2014 20:51:05 +0000
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