No one should be pushed out to sleep on the freezing streets with no place to go, says Christa Ackroyd

I love this team, this no nonsense group of people who are like family to those they serve. They are of all ages, from all walks of life and they are among the most positive, determined people I have ever met. They work on the basis that a smile costs nothing and if one small act of kindness can change someone’s life then that’s what they will give.

Sounds pie in the sky .... too optimistic ... too happy clappy? Well believe me it’s not. I have seen it happen time after time. It may take weeks, it may take years, but when the trust is built to such a level that someone asks for help, that’s when the real magic happens. And you would be amazed at what can be achieved, which is why Becky and Shelley who set up the group now support more than 40 people who were once homeless but now have a roof over their heads. And that’s 40 people with hope for a better future.

It may involve a visit with a food parcel, it may be help to sort out bills, it may be providing furniture, curtains, carpets, things that make a home a home or it may be just a shoulder to cry on but it can be done. People can rebuild their lives spectacularly.

Until then no one is turned away each Thursday night whether they have homes to go to or not. Not all sleep in doorways, though far too many still do. Perhaps they used to but now have four walls yet still feel alone and still need the company of those they once considered their only friends and so they come and join the queues which sadly get longer and longer at this time of year.

Sometimes they might tell you their story, most do not. But by and large they are polite, grateful and at ease with those who are not out to judge them, just to show that someone still cares. And there are many people who do the same in all our towns and cities. The point is they shouldn’t have to.

But these last few weeks have got to me. And one incident in particular is etched in my mind which symbolises for me the shape we are in as a country. We were just about finishing our rounds when it happened. We had long since run out of jackets, joggers and blankets and had only a handful of hot meals and snacks left in our trollies.

It has, as you know, been bitterly cold yet one thing you learn when you join any outreach team is not to complain about the weather. It may be pouring down, it may be icy and freezing, the one thing you understand pretty quickly is it’s easy to stick on another layer and count your blessings. You will be going home to warm up tonight. There are others who will not.

As I say, we were trundling our almost empty trollies towards the van when we heard a shout, albeit a weak one. We turned around to see a man staggering across the road almost bare legged. He could hardly stand let alone run towards us and so Becky went to him. What she discovered was that he had been discharged from hospital and was walking to a bed and breakfast from the city centre to Hyde Park more than a couple of miles away. Having nowhere to go and nothing to eat he still wore his hospital dressing gown underneath his coat.

And so as not to crowd him we carried on while Becky gave him some food and called and paid for a taxi. It will only have been a few pounds but quite frankly without it he didn’t look as though he would make it walking. And that is heartbreaking. Of course we don’t know the full story. And of course we do know how hard pressed medical, social and the probation services are, how housing is sparse, how mental health support is not available as it should be and I accept all that. It doesn’t make it right though does it ?

Week after week we meet people who fall through the cracks. People who have fled abuse. Some who simply got lost along the way. Sometimes we only see the scars on their mental health long after the physical bruises have healed. And yet they are often caught between the area they came from and the area they have run too and so are left to fend for themselves as authorities tell them it’s not their problem. I have spoken many times to one woman who just wanted to die but dare not go back to where she had come from so she slept on the streets.

I have seen people leave prison one day and end up on the streets that night until they deliberately commit a crime to be brought before the courts and sent back inside where at least they have a bed and food. And that’s a tough cycle to break. But asking a charity like ours to meet someone outside the prison gates with a sleeping bag and warm clothes in case they end up in a doorwayis not the answer either. And we refused on the basis no one should be released without a place to go to.

I know times are tough. I know services are stretched but if they can provide winter mobile shelters in India for the homeless of Delhi, surely we can do the same here ? Because things are going to get worse. As the cost of living crisis deepens what started out as a few hot meals a week has burgeoned into a huge commitment for two sisters and their team, who all have their own jobs to go to and who are all unpaid volunteers. If you want to know how bad it’s got, before the pandemic the Angels supported six people in their own homes now they help 200 stay afloat. And there are 400 people registered on their food bank.

And that is replicated in other groups in other areas too. We in this country are better than this. We need to think more, talk less and do more. We need halfway houses to help rehabilitate those who want to rebuild their lives but don’t know how to. We need authorities to join up and work together. And we need, above all, to remember how we treat the most vulnerable is how we are judged as a society. And trust me there are none more vulnerable than those who bed down under cardboard and rags in shop doorways, or under railway arches and believe that tomorrow will be a better day. Because for many it isn’t.

But one thing is certain no matter how they got there, what brought them to this they deserve our help and not our judgement.