When you see a homeless person, what do you see? Would you see me? Homelessness affects us all; it has affected me and my family. After my parents divorced and our family home was sold, my Mum, Brother and I found ourselves with nowhere to live. I was 9 and my Brother was 3. My Mum didn’t know where to turn and we were homeless. My Grandparents offered us a safe place to live and while the years spent with them were some of my happiest, five people living in a small two bed terrace house wasn’t ideal. A few years later we moved into a housing association house and we all had our own bedroom!

Everyone deserves to have a home, a safe place of their own! Homelessness isn’t just people you see on the street; there are so many hidden homeless in the world. We were lucky we had a place to go! Many people don’t and the only place they can go to is the street.

On the 18/10/12 my world was torn apart when my Grandfather (Major Thomas Wilkinson) died aged 88. He died suddenly and his death was not expected. My Granddad worked as a Salvation Army Officer; he represented everything the Salvation Army stood for, he was a man amongst men. Major Tom volunteered to work in Northern Ireland in the 70’s at the height of the troubles, with no thought of danger to himself or his family. While in Belfast a bomb blew up his church. http://www.belfastcitadel.com/about-the-citadel/history/ .While serving in Egypt in the Second World War he befriended some German prisoners, at Christmas he swapped uniforms with a German POW so he could go into the Prison camp to watch a show his new friends were performing. On his return to Britain he sent a food parcel to the mother of one of his German friends so she could bake him a welcome home cake, as food was extremely limited in Germany. My Granddad didn’t see propaganda or politics, just young men who were away from their families at Christmas.

The Salvation Army and their values meant everything to my Granddad; therefore my Brother and I are raising money for the Salvation Army in memory of my Grandfather and the work he did for them and also because homelessness is an issue that’s close to our hearts. The Salvation Army is one of the biggest providers of services to homeless people in the UK and Ireland. They believe everyone is valuable and no-one should be stigmatised because of their past or where they live. http://www.salvationarmy.org.uk/uki/Homeless

So my brother and I thought how could we raise money? We’d have to do something we were passionate about! “Shall we sail around the world? We’ve never been on a boat!” It would have to be something connected to Granddad! Then it hit us! My Granddad would say, “You boys! You’re not right! You follow THAT football team around the country getting up at stupid times, they always lose. WHY do you do it??” Why not I’d say, faith I’d reply!

So it was decided we’d complete the ultimate away day; driving 898 miles from Molineux Stadium (Wolverhampton) to the Juventus Stadium (Turin) in a FIAT 500, between the 7/3/15 and 8/3/15 and have faith that other football fans would understand why we are doing it and donate!

Myself my brother (Jason Gregory) and his friend (Ben Smith) will leave Molineux on Saturday the 7/3/15 at around 6pm and then travel to watch a game at the Juventus Stadium in Turin Italy, arriving on the 8/3/13 for kick off at around 2pm. That is 898 miles in 18 hours in a tiny car. As soon as the final whistle has blown we get back in the car and drive back to Molineux. We will be calling at a few grounds along the way, after all it’s not right if we pass a ground not to stop and have a look! We will also be selling memorabilia as well to help us reach our target, and doing some other smaller events to raise money. So why do the trip in a FIAT 500? Simple Granddad drove a FIAT, plus the Agnelli family own FIAT. Juventus, why travel to Juventus? Being Wolves fan’s Jason and I have not seen a European game, the last time Wolves were in Europe was 1980. Neither of us were born! In our view one of Wolves greatest European victories was a 1-0 away win in the quarter final of the UEFA Cup in 1972. The 6/3/15 marks 43 years since the fixture too place in Turin.

So that’s our event! Supporters of Wolves and Juventus please support us! Football fans please dig deep to help us each our total.

Sleeping rough is hard. I have worked for the Salvation Army in their hostels for homeless men and trust me no one chooses to do it! Emergency beds for the homeless are limited. There may be six beds for an entire city and they are allocated on a first come basis meaning people miss out and have nowhere to go! Soup kitchens may provide food twice a week, so what would someone without any money do for food the other five days of the week? Your money will make a real difference! It won’t stop homelessness, but it will help! It may only help one person, but that’s a difference, what if you were that person?

·       £46 could meet the cost of an officer to run a Salvation Army centre for a day – to keep the door open for vulnerable people.

·       £90 could provide a bed for a homeless person for a month and the chance for them to make a fresh start.

Thank you for taking the time to read this, and an even bigger thank you if you have donated money! Your donation could mean everything to someone who is homeless! It means a lot to my Brother and me. It would have meant everything to Major Thomas Wilkinson (my Granddad) who gave his life for the work of the Salvation Army.

Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page. All the expenses that will occur for our event will be met by us, so all the money you give will go to the Salvation Army.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity. So it’s the most efficient way to donate – saving time and cutting costs for the charity.