Winton Volunteer Rosemarie Veale

Rosemarie Veale is a qualified nurse who met Salvation Army member Mary Randell 12 years ago when she was working with a local charity that provided a night shelter for Bournemouth’s homeless. Homeless accommodation was subsequently provided by the local council but Rosemarie continued her active involvement with the homeless as a volunteer with the Monday meal run organised by Mary and her Salvation Army colleagues.

Rosemarie’s nursing skills have proved invaluable as she has been able to offer foot care and basic dressing for open wounds to those whose lifestyle gives them difficulty in accessing medical treatment. Rosemarie is able to refer and sometimes accompany those people with more serious problems to Accident and Emergency or a Doctor’s session at a local hostel. Her professional background has also enabled her to contribute to the ongoing support of the teams’ work and training in risk assessment and health and hygiene.

No two nights are ever quite the same. Rosemary recounted an occasion when one young man presented himself in front of her with a hand split open and dripping blood after a street brawl, saying: “Rose, take a look in there and see if there’s a tooth.” He was sure he’d taken the other bloke’s tooth out in the fight!

The close friendship Rosemarie and other team members have nurtured over the years means that the regular recipients of the meals also open up about the problems and difficulties of living rough on the streets. Between 50 and 60 men and women make their way to St Peter’s Churchyard in Bournemouth town centre every Monday evening. Ages range from teenagers to pensioners.

Rosemarie explains that her contribution is not limited to treating cuts and bruises.“As well as washing and dressing sore and damaged feet I am able to help give out clothing and engage in conversations. Because we are not part of any official agency the homeless trust us with subjects that they would not otherwise feel able to mention, talking about mental health problems, lost businesses and relationship breakdowns.”

A committed Christian who worships at a local Catholic Church, Rosemarie is keen to emphasise the warm welcome she receives from members of The Salvation Army and the homeless themselves. When she recently had to take some time out for an operation on her hand, a number of the homeless lads sent her ‘get well cards’ which she found very touching.

Rosemarie values the opportunity to be able to make a real difference through her practical help: “One girl had such badly swollen feet that her flimsy fashion shoes just wouldn’t fit. With only men’s large sized shoes in our bag of spare clothing I realised that my own footwear was all that was going to meet the need so that night I drove home barefoot.”

One of Rosemarie’s friends died recently and left a legacy for the work of the meal run team. This has funded the provision of replacement spectacles, sleeping bags, robust footwear and even tents, all vital for sustaining and improving the quality of life among those who have no roof for their heads in the rain or the sun in Bournemouth.

As Rosemarie says: “The work goes on, week in week out, with no shelter apart from the awning of the Church.”

Everything done by the team is in the open air, summer or winter, but the compassion shown by the team warms many hearts.

Winton Volunteer John Murdoch

John is a regular member of the team from Winton Salvation Army near Bournemouth which responds to the needs of the homeless in the town by providing a weekly meal run.

Having been homeless himself, John feels he is particularly well-equipped to gain the trust of the homeless. For 19 years he has worked alongside team leader and mentor Mary Randell who enabled John both to learn and to share from his own background.

John explains: “I collect rubbish, check that the homeless people are OK and give out clothes and sandwiches, generally keeping my ear to the ground.”

He often goes out on other nights of the week to check on the welfare of the homeless people he has befriended. John spent a period early in his life living in a tent in the Canford Cliffs area of Bournemouth. He was helped by The Salvation Army team who in those days provided a soup kitchen at the Pier. Now living in a shared house, John now puts his past career as a chef to good use by working as a volunteer in a local hostel helping to cook breakfasts and evening meals for the residents.

John speaks warmly of those he encounters: “One young woman sells the Big Issue and thanks me profusely for what I do. The homeless know that they can speak to me as someone who ‘has earned the T-shirt’, having slept on the streets myself. They know that they can always count on me for practical help such as a new sleeping bag when theirs has disappeared.

“It gives me great satisfaction to see people move on to being housed, have a job or obtain help from caring organisations. Amazingly, some maintain contact with the team, even returning to meet us in St Peter’s churchyard where we now base our meal run. It’s not unusual for the crowd that gathers to applaud Mary and the team members as they arrive in their van each week.”

John admits to feeling emotional when the time comes to leave the churchyard each Monday night. “I wish I could do more for those people” he says.

Yet he still takes time out of his week to sit in on court cases, write to prisoners and tour the beach shelters to check up on his rough sleeping friends. Occasionally he returns to The Strand in London where he himself spent so much time living on the streets and remembers where, but for the Grace of God...

Plymouth Volunteer Russell Wyatt

Russell (23) is a member of a local Salvation Army church and has been a volunteer member of the Plymouth weekly Soup Run for four years.

For more than 20 years a dozen churches of all denominations have ensured the homeless in Plymouth/ are served with food, hot drinks, blankets and warm clothing 365 nights of the year. Shirley Collenette, a retired Salvation Army minister, co-ordinates the whole programme and a Salvation Army group is responsible for covering Sunday nights in the city.

Russell is part of Shirley’s team as well as a second team that goes out three or four nights a month.

During the day Russell works with adults with autism but most Sunday evenings, he pitches up at The Salvation Army Plymouth Congress Hall building in the city centre where, for a couple of hours, he helps prepare food for the evening. Some of that food is donated by local businesses.

Around 10.15pm the Soup Run team hit the streets and each night helps around 80 people – men and women, adults and teenagers. Most are ‘sleeping rough’ but some may be in temporary accommodation with no cooking facilities. Everyone is grateful for the contact, for the food and hot drinks and sleeping bags and blankets which can make the difference between a good night’s sleep or a freezing night on the streets.

The Soup Run visits several sites across Plymouth each night and people know where to come to get help and are often waiting for the arrival of the van and their drinks and food. Leaflets are also handed out with information on where to find some accommodation and where they can access help.

Russell and other Soup Run volunteers are normally heading home by about 1.30am after a long but satisfying evening. “I never really think about this as ‘voluntary work’, I enjoy it so much,” says Russell. “Every time we go out something happens to make us realise that we were in the right place to help someone.”

The Plymouth Soup Run has about 150 volunteers from across the churches and community in Plymouth. They include teachers, accountants, police officers, council employees, hostel workers and university students. Among those volunteering are some people who were once homeless and sleeping on the streets. Shirley Collenette, who co-ordinates the Soup Run, spent time living on the streets in the 1960s.

Although there are no conditions attached to the help being offered – people don’t get preached at – all those who receive help know that many of those volunteering on the Soup Run have a faith and they can ask about that and receive help if they want to.

Russell says being a volunteer can make a huge difference in someone’s life and he would encourage more people to consider being a volunteer.“I would say – give it a try. In our team you are never isolated. A new person coming into the team will also be partnered with an experienced team member. It’s a great team spirit. Fortunately I have not had to face any serious violence or problems as I go out with the Soup Run team. The people we meet are homeless, but they are just people and they become your friends.”

Further information about Rosemarie, John and Russell can be obtained via Adrian Prior-Sankey, Regional Press Officer for The Salvation Army in the south of England and south & mid Wales.

Tel 07717 862 442

adrian.prior-sankey@salvationarmy.org.uk