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Bearing in mind those of us privileged enough to need to pay council tax and pay by direct debit will not need to make payments in Feb & March, please don8 loadsa money now (although every bit helps).

Else read through the stuff below. I promise you won't scroll down to a video of me singing the YMCA song...

As a Street Pastor for the last ~3 years I have come across many homeless people as well as some groups who help them. Some of these ordinary people who have fallen on difficult times have been a real blessing to me and others in spite of their hardship. They come from widely varying walks of life with their own different story to tell. Some of misfortune, some of abuse, some of self sacrifice and others of self confessed short-sightedness.

The YMCA is not just involved in getting a roof over these peoples heads but catering for an individual's real needs so they can help them to help themselves, putting them in a much better position so they are less likely to become homeless in the future. Homeless can be defined in many ways and is sometimes perceived to be just people sleeping rough when in reality there are many sofa surfers spending a few nights here and there at friends or relatives, or people who stay where they may be abused in some manner as there is nowhere else to go. Whichever way you look at it there is an genuine increasing need.

Picture yourself in their shoes (if they have any). Is it wet, cold, windy? Do you feel uncomfortable, or unsafe? Are you worried about losing what little you have? Is it noisy? Will you be able to sleep very well or long because of these things or because you know you may be disturbed or asked to move on in the morning? Where will you be able to sleep the next night? Where will you get your next drink, meal or wash? Will your health deteriorate? How? How can people contact you so that you can maintain any form of relationships? Who is going to show love, hope, care & compassion to you in this situation?

Doing the Sleep Easy I'm going to know I can go home afterwards and that alone makes a big difference. There are limits to how much we can put ourselves in that position of being homeless but hopefully it will give some deeper understanding of how it feels to be homeless and how a homeless person can be most effectively helped. Hopefully we can raise some dosh towards the £1m needed for the 40 bed move-on unit too.

Oh! Still here? I didn't send you to sleep then? Or were you just making sure there was no YMCA video?

Thanks for reading.

Thanks even more for donating!

Please tell your friends.

Paul