Day Three at St Anne’s

It’s icy, 7.30 a.m. and I am being briefed by Tracey, St Anne’s Cold Weather Worker. We are going out to the Day Centre where rough sleepers have breakfast, and then to visit the overnight spots for those sleeping out in Sheffield this February.

We walk to the Archer Project and tearoom in West Bar. As we arrive six men are waiting for opening. They are young and old – some well wrapped up, some not. They are freezing cold. The talk is all about tonight’s weather forecast with seven inches of snow expected. One man is pleased he has a good thick coat. Another wonders where he’ll get enough cardboard during the day to make a shelter good enough for snow.

Then the doors open and they rush to register and move to the tearoom for a meal. By now there are twenty. The tearoom is packed, full of warmth and conversation.

I talk to one resident reading his stars in the paper – he’s a Sagittarius too. We discuss the advice “don’t take advice from others”. A young man comes in with his washing ready to use the laundry. He’s determined to keep tidy.

After an hour talking, we start to leave. “The Big Issue” is being sold to homeless people ready to be sold on to the public. Each person has an agreed pitch in the City Centre. The Archer workers are discussing with Tracey whether emergency places will be made available in bed and breakfast, if the temperature falls to a low level. 

We walk out into Sheffield centre and meet many of the people now selling their magazines. One has a well kept brown dog and he’s doing brisk business as customers buy his magazine and pet the dog.

At the Cathedral we meet an elderly man wrapped up with numerous layers of coats, trousers and thick walking socks in his boots. He carries an old bent walking stick and a kit bag. He has just been placed in housing after fifteen years living rough in the City. He is a success story for the project, but so used to sleeping rough that he still dresses for the cold. We talk about his travels many years before to Didcot and Reading, the area where I grew up.

We visit the Salvation Army Hotel to see what places they may have for Tracey. The Manager, Steve, gives us a cuppa and shows us round – a good set up.

Then I return to St Anne’s Hostel for the afternoon. I play a few games of pool in the recreation room with two residents. They’re far too good for me.