Two weeks ago as I walked through the Christchurch underpass I walked past a young homeless man with his head in a book. Sadly this is not unusual for any of us nowadays but what struck me about this guy is how his eyes smiled so strikingly as he looked up at me from his paperback. His response as I apologied for having no change in my bag remained the same, a kind smile & please not to worry myself as he didn't want anything from me. How can one have such a positive outlook on life when on the surface they have nothing? I made a slight detour to Waitrose & returned with a feast for the evening. It was the least I could do & I'm sure (or at least hope) millions would do the same. He was so incredibly grateful & even laughed at me when I apologised if he was vegetarian!! As I walked home I couldn't stop thinking of him sat on the damp, cold floor hardly sheltered by the chilled October wind indefinitely.
Today I returned to Christchurch & was met with the same kind, happy face. It saddened me that he was still out there in the decreasing temperatures, but his genuine smile still remained. He looked up from the pages of his book & remembered me from the previous week. I bought him back a coffee, hot panini & cake from Costa & talked to him for a while.
His name is Jay, I didn't ask his age but he looked about the same age as me, he has been living homeless for the past 4 weeks after losing the deposit for his new home after being let down by a friend. He told me that mum lives just a few miles away but as she has bipolar he didn't want to worry her & wanted to sort himself out, so he differed the degree he was studying only a month ago to get himself back on his feet.
I asked him how he seemed to stay so happy & he told me that he just remains positive & he's not far from raising what he needs to get a roof back over his head.
Jay needs a mere £250 to get out of the cold, back to Uni & to keep that smile on his face. Please help me make this happen for him x