Who is Matthew?

Matthew is a man I see on my way to work in Southbourne most mornings.Matthew sits outside a local shop with his little Jack Russell in all weathers. He sleeps on the beach if the wind is the right direction and in shop doorways if it isn't.

Matthew is 50 and earlier this year was allocated a flat after a few years of sofa surfing and homelessness. 5 days before the meeting to sign the tenancy agreement, Matthew collapsed and was rushed to Bournemouth hospital unconscious. From there he was transferred to Southampton for urgent open heart surgery. He worried mostly about his dog but the police had found a foster home for her. By the time Matthew was discharged from hospital, his flat had been allocated to someone else and he was forced back on the street with his dog to wait for another. He still has a dodgy heart

.Matthew went to university and is an intelligent, well spoken man. He worked very hard locally. (So hard in fact, that he lost his wife ) Matthew keeps away from the other rough sleepers as he doesn't abuse alcohol or use substances so his existence is a lonely one.

But Matthew smiles, he doesn't complain, he tries hard to get into a hostel at night if he can, so that he can sleep in a bed and have a meal. But he finds it very difficult to raise the £9.50 that it costs each night. He is forced to rely on other people's generosity so that he can have what we all take for granted each night.

What has happened to Matthew could happen to any of us.

. I gave him the money to spend 2 nights at the hostel. ( I will manage to go without my afternoon coffee for a few days somehow).If anybody else wants to help it woukd be amazing.

Thank you for reading.