Picture the scene. It’s a Sunday morning, you’re homeless, you’re cold and your bed for the night is a bus stop in Swindon.
Then you are gently shaken awake by a near stranger who invites you into the warmth for a cooked breakfast and as many hot drinks as you could wish for. This is exactly what happened to Andrew, who – through a string of circumstances – found himself sleeping rough on the streets of Swindon.
He’d only recently become a guest of Big Breakfast Plus, but when one of our volunteers saw him in the bus stop, she recognised him and alerted our Services Coordinator, Wayne, who fetched Andrew inside.
Becoming homeless can happen to anyone
As Andrew says, “I came from a good family, and I lost everything.” For Andrew, it was the death of his baby daughter several decades ago which sent him into on a spiral of drinking and gambling.
He was living in London at the time and working in the City as a Lloyds of London broker, but ultimately his addictions led to the breakdown of his marriage. He lost his child, his wife, his home and his employment.
He came to Swindon by chance. He had been living in Aldershot, in accommodation found for him by a London charity, but he was surrounded by addicts and feared he would start drinking again. He is 17 years sober.
“Moving to Aldershot was a terrible decision, I nearly took to drink again, so I moved out.”
Andrew went next to Oxford, and spent his time between there and Swindon, sleeping rough.
It was while he was in Swindon he came across Big Breakfast Plus and that particular morning, when he was sleeping at the bus stop, our volunteer and Wayne found him.
“He woke me up and said, ‘you’re not going to miss breakfast, are you?’ and brought me in. I have never forgotten that. It showed how caring the volunteers and Wayne are, who went out of their way even though they were busy, to make sure I had a hot meal.”
Life has taken a rather better turn recently for Andrew. He has received an unexpected bequest, inheriting a property in Wales. He is now back on his feet and living in Bristol. But he has never forgotten the act of kindness from Wayne and the volunteers here at Big Breakfast Plus, who reached out to him when he was at a low point in his life.
Big Breakfast Plus was there for Andrew when he needed us. We are there for so many others too but can only do the work we do with funding. If you would like to help us, please make a donation here. Thank you.