As other first time volunteers had said, i did feel anxious and not quite sure what to expect, but as soon as i met the other volunteers, i felt at ease and in no time, we were inundated. Many of the homeless know to come to the soup kitchen on a Saturday night, so we handed out the lovely home cooked meals, hot & cold drinks, chocolate, crisps, fruit & water. But that's not all, toiletries, clothes and more importantly time for a chat and a hug. It was good to put faces to names having read their stories, there are some real characters and they are all so grateful and friendly.
After a while, five of us, four 'newbies' including myself, went on the outreach walk, Kaylee lead the team she was an inspiration and so good and professional with the homeless guys we met. I lost count to be honest, but I will remember some names, one lad not much older than my son, alone and scared, so heart wrenching! We found quite a few guys, many on their own, sat in doorways, under arches, yet all around were 100's of people out clubbing, the noise and chaos, awful!! And there we were pulling our little trolleys and battling through the crowds to find these guys, the hot meals were barely warm now but still gratefully received, we sat down on the ground with them to chat.
Some of them were new faces, but the thing that struck me most, were how polite and gracious they all were. It really is an eye-opener, its either bad luck, misfortune or terrible situations that people end up in this situation, its not a choice, but to just give up a few hours a week means so much to others, and yes i drove home at midnight and cried! Bev x
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