We are the Wednesday workers
Eve has been working at the Hub for at least year and a half and having worked for Shelter in its fairly early days, is passionately committed to the issue of homelessness. Hearing about the Hub at her local church, she dropped in - and here she still is. She readily admits that some of the service users might be there because of mistakes they have made - but then who hasn't, she asks. Bad luck and society must also carry a share of the responsibility for those who do not find their basic human needs of food, water and shelter being met. "Whatever some people might say, homelessness most certainly isn't a lifestyle choice," she challenges. She feels she has learnt so much from the people who use the hub, and the experience makes her feel even more grateful for her own good fortune, though at that point she had to concede that if she dwelt any longer on it, her Bolognese would boil over!
Eric saw the beginnings of the Hub when he and his wife Carole were involved with the Poverty Action Group and the Credit Union. They both felt very strongly about justice issues, and it is clear from the conversation that Eric is proud of his dear wife who died of cancer last year. "She cooked for the Hub right up to the last few weeks," he tells, more keen to talk about her volunteering than his own. Eric is particularly moved by the way the Hub's service users do not feel part of society, their feeling of rejection and even self-rejection. He is touched by their humanity, shown in the way they care for each other, and perhaps surprisingly to those who do not know them, their honesty. He is also full of praise for the other volunteers. "People who work here are fantastic and become friends as well."
Is Eric giving Sheila's biscuits the brush off?
Sheila was doing the Weymouth soup run before moving back to Dorchester and relocating to the Hub last April. "This is a happy place; we are always laughing," she declares. Like all the volunteers, she shares the feeling that the local authority and government could do more but appreciates the constraints on spending they face. She is also of the opinion that charities like the Hub are more approachable, that some of the service users might not ask for help from local authority institutions. That she values the individual connections between volunteers and the rough sleepers is obvious: "A client walked in and saw me for the first time in months. 'Hi Sheila. How are you?' he asked. Why should he remember my name after all that time?" she ponders. Do we wonder?