Well Saturday was not as busy as the previous week, notwithstanding all the hot food was well received. Its not surprising we were quieter, it was really, wet, cold & windy. I assume most of the real rough sleepers, stay put under shelter. I cant imagine how awful it would be to have wet clothes & not to have anything dry to put on. Michelle, one of our volunteers was unable to come but made us the biggest pan of Pasta, delivered to my house. Our little Sophie made her usual sandwich packs & spent time talking to a lot of them, she is very good at that. My daughter came for the first time as we need at least 4 volunteers. I wish she could come every week, she is born to it & when one of the guys was giving it out, as they often do, she said eh, thats enough, its Christmas, peace to all. He said yes your right, sorry I was only joking. Garry was there as usual serving the hot drinks. He is like a new man since he learned he has got himself fixed up with a place of his own. I dont know why he was made homeless & I have never asked, but I know he said he would never be homeless again. In my mind I can see Garry finding a job & never looking back, thats what I wish for him. I really am happy we found him, he has turned up every single week & sometimes I know he has been ill. During the night I asked a couple of the guys if they needed sleeping bags, they said no thanks we have them. One other guy said I will have one, I was just about to get one for him, when one of the regular homeless guys said, dont give him one Marilyn, hes got his own place. I looked at him, but he couldnt look at me. I mean we have to watch some of them, they can be really cheeky. To take food is one thing when you are not sleeping rough, but a sleeping bag, shame on him. A funny story, a few weeks ago, my friend Karen heard one of the girls say to her boyfriend eh ----- we cant sleep in that doorway tonight love somebody peed in it & it stinks. Perhaps its wrong to say funny story, its just I find the girl funny, she makes me laugh. Well this girl came last night to tell me her & her boyfriend have been put in a B & B she was really happy, but she didnt have any extra clothes. We had loads, so she did a little shop & she was practically screaming that she had also found a pair of trousers that would fit her fella! She is a bit dizzy, never stops talking, but she is medicine for me:). This week we had loads of fruit & chocolate donated by Rosario & Janet who provide us with all our plates, cups & plastic cutlery. I swear they like chocolate just as much as a hot meal. Well Saturday 20th the Rucksack Project are in Manchester, so we have the opportunity to take a break. So we will not be back down until the following week. I gave Garry his Christmas present & thanked him for all his help over the past months. I was not able to say all the best or Merry Christmas to Garry or any of them - how can you say that to a homeless person. Quite a few of them said thanks for what you are doing, have a good Christmas, now that did reduce me to tears, Well thanks for reading, thanks for the support & donations & Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas & Health & Happiness for 2015 from all or our little crew @ ahelpinghandmanchester - Marilyn, Margaret, Karen, Jackie, Sophie, Michelle & Jayne.
Posted on: Sun, 14 Dec 2014 20:17:57 +0000