Star date: 18th December 2017

VOLUNTEERS SERVE FESTIVE FEAST AS SALFORD COUNCIL URGED TO OPEN UP DISUSED BUILDINGS

"It's absolutely brilliant, it's made my Christmas..." Mark

Around three dozen full Christmas dinners were served to Salford's homeless people this afternoon at Eccles Youth Centre, which mixed a festive feast with an afters of politics, as Salford City Council was urged, yet again, to open up its disused buildings as shelters.

"It humbles me to think that people can invite us in to have Christmas dinner and just make us feel like normal people" said Stuart.

Full details here...

At Eccles Youth Centre this afternoon, around three dozen people from Salford's homeless community were served a full Christmas dinner, complete with a festively wrapped present.

The feast was arranged by an array of organisations, from Salford City UNISON to the JVA Street Team, led by Street Support Salford and Manchester and the Salford Unemployed and Community Resource Centre (SUCRC).

The event was held in honour of Lower Broughton's community stalwart, Madge Kelly, who died last year shortly after helping out at the 2016 Christmas dinner for the homeless (see here). Today Madge's daughter, Debbie Prince, was on hand, cooking and serving up the food together with around a dozen other volunteers.

"My mum was quite instrumental in the one last year so we thought we'd do this in her honour" said Debbie "We've had a soup starter, a full Christmas dinner with a choice of trifle or Christmas pudding, with cakes, mince pies and soft drinks."

Those who attended certainly seemed to enjoy themselves... "I'm here as I'm homeless and just enjoy that people can give back to society" said Stuart "I'm not as privileged as other people, I'm on the streets and living in this squat and that squat, and it humbles me to think that people can invite us in to have Christmas dinner and just make us feel like normal people to be honest."

His sentiments were echoed by Mark, who is currently couch surfing, having spent three months squatting inside the old Crescent Police Station before he was ejected...

"It's absolutely brilliant, it's made my Christmas" he said "I might have another dinner at Loaves and Fishes on Friday but otherwise Christmas was not happening."

Mark, like others at the dinner, was well aware of the politics of homelessness, having come out of jail onto SURC's Prison Project a number of years ago...

"I now volunteer on the Project five days a week and haven't been back to jail" he explained "Prison is a revolving door – if you kick someone out with £21 what are you doing? Inviting them to come back? The Government should have some kind of support system in place but it doesn't.

"It's a social problem, particularly for people with drug, alcohol or mental health issues" he added "If you go back fifteen or twenty years they called it 'care in the community' but it wasn't; it was shutting down mental hospitals and it hasn't got any better. But things like this work. If it didn't I'd be back in jail, which would cost the taxpayer more money."

The biggest cheer of the event came after a speech by SURC's manager, Alec McFadden who, once again, urged Salford Council to open its disused buildings as homeless shelters... "Just do it now!"

Later he told the Salford Star, "For many of these people it was the first time they'd had a sit down three course meal in the whole of 2017. Even in times of war people stopped fighting at Christmas, and what I want to see happen in 2018 is the Christmas spirit spread across the whole year so that people who are homeless have somewhere, not only to sit down and eat, but somewhere to live. That has got to be our priority. There's been a lot of talking but what was brilliant about today was that it was about doing things..."

Also present at the dinner lending a hand in a fetching elf costume was Little Hulton Councillor, Kate Lewis. She made some serious points after chatting to some of the diners...

"It is an absolute tragedy in the fifth richest country in the world we cannot put a roof over every person's head" she said "Everyone should have that as a minimum. To do otherwise is to deprive them of the dignity they deserve.

"The wish of many of the homeless people I spoke to today was to become active and useful" she added "Government cuts have taken away the first rung of that ladder. We need councils to be allowed to build houses again in significant numbers. This is the only way this problem will ever be fixed. Homelessness is an indictment of our time. Something must be done and done quickly. More people are dying on the streets as the cold weather hits hard..."

Her words were poignant as one of the Street Support Salford volunteers and outreach workers had the misfortune to find a young homeless man lifeless in a doorway in Manchester City Centre last night. While still distraught from the experience, she put on a brave face and Santa hat to hand out meals and presents to those still without a home.

As everyone had fun today, all were incredibly aware of the perilous plight of the homeless and the lack of meaningful action from the politicians...

The Salford Star has been trying to confirm whether the homeless man actually died or not. So far, inquiries have been met with a wall of silence from the authorities. Full details to follow...

***Tomorrow, Tuesday 19th December, at 5pm opposite Morrison's in Piccadilly Gardens, Manchester, Street Paws and Street Support Salford and Manchester are looking after dogs owned by the homeless, with free vaccinations, worming and flea treatment by registered vets. For further details see the Facebook event page – click here

See also previous Salford Star article: Squatting Explosion in Greater Manchester – click here