At Big Breakfast Plus, we’re about so much more than simply providing a meal for our guests. We offer community, and among our guests’ close friendships blossom.
Take Chris and Malcolm. They’d never met before but, along with Baz and his partner Kelly, have become firm friends. Meeting one another most days over breakfast is something they look forward to and have come to value.
Chris, 54, now has a home, but when he first came to Big Breakfast Plus, he was living in his car. He has ongoing health problems to contend with, but is able to forget these for a while, during his chats with Malcolm.
“I was living in my car, was quite ill, when I started coming here. It’s been a massive help for me, especially as I can’t work at the moment due to my health; I was a site manager. I now have a room and it’s much better than being in my car.”
Scotland-born Malcolm, 45, arrived in Swindon in 2023 and is living in a tent. He carries all his belongings with him, and pitches in different places overnight.
Personal circumstances led him to sleeping rough and while he is looking forward to the next stage in his life, he is enjoying the community atmosphere of Big Breakfast Plus and chatting with his newfound friends.
“I read about Big Breakfast Plus online and came here for something to eat and to get warm, especially in the winter. I had no idea what I was walking into, and I didn’t know anyone and was very quiet to start with. I would just come in, eat and leave. Then one day I started chatting to Chris and now we sit together. Originally, I came for the food but now it’s for the food and company.”
Chris added: “Like Malcolm, I used to just eat and go, but that’s changed since meeting Malcolm, Baz and Kelly. We talk about anything, whatever the topic of the day is, but it’s mainly football. But if we don’t want to talk, we can just sit comfortably with one another.”
Baz is currently unemployed, and Kelly has a cleaning job. One wage doesn’t cover all their outgoings, so Big Breakfast Plus provides a lifeline. Baz visits almost daily and Kelly joins him occasionally. Like Chris and Malcolm, Big Breakfast Plus offers not just food but friendship too.
If you would like to support Big Breakfast Plus, so we can help guests like Chris, Malcolm, Baz and Kelly, then why not make a donation, either a ‘one-off’ or regularly? For just £10 a month, you would be covering breakfast each for Chris and Malcolm.