While you’re tucking into your sumptuous festive fayre, spare a thought for the cold, hungry homeless people on the streets. Gayle Ritchie spends a night volunteering at a soup kitchen
Bell Street, Dundee, on a cold and wet Wednesday night.
I admit it – I’d rather been sitting at home in front of the telly with a glass of wine, a roaring fire and the dog curled up on my lap.
Instead, I’m on the streets being battered by the elements, rubbing my hands together to keep warm.
Unlike the dozens of folk who’re already here, waiting for the mobile soup kitchen to show up, I’ve made the decision to come along here voluntarily, and I’m here to help out.
Tragically, most of the people I meet have been forced to ditch any last dregs of dignity to come and accept the free food, love and warmth on offer from the kind-hearted souls who volunteer with the Eagles Wings Trust.
Four nights a week, volunteers serve soup, sandwiches, pies, sausage rolls, drinks, crisps, biscuits and fruit, as well as handing out bags of clothing and other essentials.
It’s heading on for 7.40pm when the van rolls up, and the volunteers are full of smiles and apologies.
“We had to collect pies from Broughty Ferry,” beams Kirsty Watt, who works four days a week as a community nurse in Perth while also putting in 13 hours for the charity.
As soon as the van’s wares are displayed, a queue forms, everyone desperate to get their hands on something to eat.
Most people are homeless, some live in hostels, some are drug addicts and alcoholics, some tell me they are “clean” although they’re on methadone programmes.
There’s one man, 55-year-old John (not his real name) who’s a qualified history teacher simply struggling to find work, and therefore, unable to afford to eat.
Then there’s unemployed Stuart Allan, 40, who tells me it’s a case of “heat or eat”.
“Christmas is coming up and I’ve to pay to heat the house and buy presents for my two-year-old son so I’m short of money for food,” he says.
The sad thing is that Stuart, a skilled tradesman from Lochee, wants to work but doesn’t have the cash to get started.
“There’s nobody who can loan me money to buy my own van so it’s really hard,” he says.
“I’ve been coming down here most nights for five years. I’ll have some food, get a bit of banter, and meet folk who’ve become friends.”
Dad-of-two Bobby Duncan, 38, stays in hostel accommodation, which, he says is “better than sleeping on the streets”.
“I blew a lot of cash on things I shouldn’t have and fell on hard times,” he tells me.
Fellow hosteller Kevin Duggan, 46, candidly reveals he’s been in and out of prison for years for crimes including shoplifting and assault.
“I was sleeping rough in Bell Street car park and it was bad,” he says. “I’m clean now – on methadone – and keen for employment. If you’ve got a heroin habit, you’re so desperate you’ll do anything, but all I want now is to settle down.”
Meanwhile, Marc Nelson, 36, one of the volunteers handing out food parcels, reveals he was among those receiving the charity’s generosity, not so long ago.
“I spent years doing drugs and drinking but a short stay in jail made me wise up and I’ve been clean for a few years,” he says.
“I used to be the one being handed food, so these guys have seen me at my worst and helped me put a positive slant on life.
“I’ve got a house, I’m trying to get into university, and I wanted to give something back. The dream is to get a career helping people, maybe working for a drug and alcohol treatment charity.”
Other volunteers include McDonald’s worker Caleb Owen, 18, and trading standards officer Alyson McRobbie, 40, who was inspired to get involved because she wanted to do something practical with her faith (Eagles Wings Trust is a Christian charity).
But the volunteers are keen to stress the charity doesn’t “ram religion down people’s throats”.
“Helping out here is addictive; it really gets under your skin and it doesn’t matter whether you believe in God,” says Kirsty.
“We survive on donations, many from church groups, and fundraising events like sleep-outs. Homelessness is huge in Dundee. Some people have such a terrible time of it that they turn to drugs and alcohol; it’s their only coping mechanism. But we’re help to help.”
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Eagles Wings Trust was set up by Mike and Fiona Cordiner in 2000 to help those who are homeless, addicted or in the process of recovery.
While the mobile soup kitchen rocks up at Bell Street four nights at week, from 7.30pm to 9pm, the charity visits people throughout the day and offers advice.
There’s also a drop-in centre on Dudhope Crescent Road which offers advice on finding accommodation or rehabilitation centres, provides food, sleeping bags, warm clothing and a listening ear.
For information on becoming a volunteer, see eagleswingstrust.org.uk
