Help at hand for the hard-up and hungry

As 6.30pm approaches, the pavement outside Weymouth’s Salvation Army Citadel on Westham Road begins to fill with the hungry, the homeless, the down-on-their-luck.

A policeman stops by, obviously concerned about one man in a drunken state, but his friend and a young volunteer handle the situation easily.

The two men are regulars, here for a helping of chicken stew and a sympathetic, non-judgmental ear.

They are two of up to 70 people, mainly men but also women and children, from Weymouth and Portland who visit the soup kitchen.

Community care minister Mike Emeny said the youngest he has seen was just three years old.

He said: “It does break your heart. He came with his dad but we’ve not seen them around here for a while now.”

In the four years the Salvation Army has been running the service, Mike and his eight volunteers have got to know everyone, from the regulars who attend every week to those who are just passing through the town.

Recipients must be referred to the service by relevant agencies to ensure the food goes to help those most in need.

Mike said: “We’ve never had any problems. It’s mainly men and they police themselves because they don’t want trouble.

“Our ethos is about being non-judgemental. We are here to provide food, to help if we can by listening.”

While the numbers using the service tend to stay the same, volunteers said the most they have ever served in one night is 73.

Mike added: “Some are regulars who come nearly every week.

“Others are emergency cases who may have been 10 minutes late for an appointment and had their benefits instantly stopped.”

As well as a hot meal, visitors are given food to take away.

One volunteer, who asked only to be known as Jo, has been in charge of handing out sandwiches to provide a meal for the next day.

She said: “My daughter actually became a volunteer before I did, and encouraged me to get involved about a year ago.

“It’s just about giving a helping hand to those who need it.”

Another helper, Emily, added: “We all have specific roles.

“I go out in the street talking to the guys as they are waiting for their food, just to see if there’s something they want to talk about or anything we can help with.

“It is a case of, but for the grace of God, any of us could find ourselves in a situation where we are homeless and in need of help.

“Knowing someone is here with a drink, a hot meal, checking you are okay can make all the difference.”

The service has been running every Tuesday night for four years, regardless of whether it is the festive period or if volunteers are on holiday.

Organisers chose Tuesdays so that the service does not clash with other food banks such as Soul Food.

The service used to be run from Westham Bridge, but visitors are now served from the Salvation Army Citadel, where the food is also prepared.

Mike said: “It is nice when you see someone who has managed to get themselves off drink or drugs and turn their lives around so they no longer need us.

“On the other hand, homeless people tend to move around a lot.

“A lot of people we help we will never see again, and never know what happened to them,” he added.

As the last person is served and the street quietens down, the service users will go back to friends’ houses, emergency bed and breakfast accommodation, or even pitch a tent on Lodmoor or the Nothe where they can bed down for the night.

But wherever they find themselves a week later, they know they can be sure of a hot meal on a Tuesday night.

Food ready to go at the Salvation Army foodbank

'It's a constant battle'

“KEEPING going is a constant battle.”

Ann runs coffee mornings every week, among other fundraising activities, to keep the money coming in to buy food for the service.

While the service is run by Salvation Army volunteers, they receive no funding from the central organisation and rely on donations from local businesses and individuals.

The Weymouth branches of Morrisons and Tesco regularly donate food and Matalan have been holding staff collections for two years.

The congregation at St Paul’s Church on Abbotsbury Road collect food all year round, as well as holding a Harvest Festival.

Organisers estimate they have enough food at the moment to keep going until Christmas.

Ann said: “If we do not find the food from somewhere there’s nothing to give.

“People are so kind and we will sometimes get calls out of the blue saying there is food left over from an event that we can have. It all makes a real difference.”

Anyone who wants to help can donate non-perishable food at the Salvation Army store.

Salvation Army volunteers on Westham Bridge

'We're not here to judge'

HELPING the hungry is only one part of Mike’s role.

As community care minister with the Salvation Army he is part of a network of people willing at all times of day and night to help those in need.

The job ranges from helping to trace lost relatives to assisting a man about to be released from prison.

“Not very long ago I had a call, quite late at night, asking to help a man who’d travelled from Gdansk, Poland,” he said.

“I found out he had paid quite a lot of money to someone who had promised he would have a job waiting for him in Dorchester.

“I looked up the name of the company he was supposed to start work for and it didn’t exist.

“I had to break it to him that he had been scammed.”

The man was a widower, with two young children who were being cared for by his elderly mother.

Mike added: “Through contacts in the Salvation Army we managed to get him to London, where he intended to find transport back home.

“He had simply been trying to find a better life for his family. We’re not here to judge. We’re just here to help in any way we can.”