It’s Tuesday, and it’s 10.00 am. Already nine people have arrived at St Mary’s Caritas Centre on Delamere Street in Crewe. The kitchen has just opened, and tea and coffee are available. The tables and chairs have all been set out, and in the kitchen the team are busy preparing toast and pastries.
By 10:30am, the number of people present has doubled. Most are regular visitors, but someone new has arrived. One of the team welcomes him and begins the process of assessing his situation and finding out how we can help. This is the LATH (Looking After the Homeless) drop-in session, which happens here every Tuesday and Thursday between 10:00am and 1:00pm.
LATH is a small charity based in Crewe. Formed in 2009 by Bernard Potter, a parishioner of St Mary’s, to help address homelessness, it was formally registered with the Charity Commission in 2014.
Today LATH has evolved to looking after more than just the homeless. Its mission is ‘to support the homeless and those affected by poverty in the Crewe and Nantwich areas, both physically and emotionally’.
LATH is staffed entirely by volunteers, from its Chairman Mick Tobin and Board of Trustees to the amazing group of volunteers who run the twice- weekly drop-in sessions, providing help and support in a welcoming environment. Bernard remains a Trustee and, at the age of 97, still regularly attends the drop-in sessions.
By 11:00am there are now 27 clients in the Caritas Centre. Typically, we will see about thirty people at each drop-in session, but on some days the number can exceed forty. The kitchen team are busily preparing a hot lunch. Today it’s vegetable soup, made from scratch with fresh produce and served with crusty bread.
They also sort out the trays of sandwiches, pasties, sausage rolls and cakes, which have been donated by Greggs, one of several kind and generous donors of food items. Clients can eat these on the premises, but most take them away and have them as their evening meal.
Alan’s story (not his real name):
‘I started taking drugs at the age of 15 and progressed over the years to more dangerous types, like cocaine and heroin. After four or five months sleeping rough on the streets and having alienated my family and friends, I managed to get the courage to ask for help and start to change my life.
When I arrived at LATH, all I had was the clothes I stood in. I had no money, was seriously underweight at just eight stones, and my mental health was at an all-time low.
At LATH I felt accepted straightaway. They offered me food, clothing, help and advice. It meant a lot. I’ll never forget that day. I then came to LATH every Tuesday and Thursday for months after that. The encouragement I received every week kept me going, and it was good for my mental health.
I have, since then, been able to slowly turn my life around, and in February this year I celebrated being drug and alcohol free for one year. I have a place to live, I can control my money, I eat healthily and have gained five stones in weight.
Life is better now, but I still come to LATH. When I can, I help the volunteers set up the tables and sort out donated clothes. It’s my small way of giving back for the help and support that I received’.
Other volunteers are talking with clients and assessing their needs, which can be for clothing, toiletries, sleeping bags, etc. Or it may be that they are helping someone prepare a CV or accessing healthcare, housing or benefits.
LATH has strong links with other local charities, health providers and support agencies, such as the Outreach Team at Cheshire East Council, which it uses to source assistance. But sometimes the need of the client is simply to have a chat with someone with a warm smile, or to receive some encouragement when things are getting tough. We may be the only people they speak to that day.
At 11:20am, LATH are made aware of a man sleeping in a doorway not far away. He may be vulnerable or in need of help, as he is reported as not being responsive. One of the volunteers goes out to assess the situation and manages to persuade the man to come down to the Caritas Centre. When he arrives at the centre, the volunteers provide him with hot food and drink, a change of clothing, and the opportunity to have a shower. They take his details and inform the Outreach Team at Cheshire East, who meet with him that afternoon for an assessment of his immediate needs.
Another client arrives at the drop-in session. This client is vulnerable, and one of the volunteers is helping with the process of moving them to supported housing, which will better suit their needs.
Homelessness is a complex situation. It is multi-faceted, and each case is different. But the outcome is always losing a place to live, which can then result in sleeping rough or sofa-surfing with friends or family. It’s certainly not a life choice.
For example, it can be the result of a catastrophic life event which someone cannot manage, and which may set them on a downward spiral. Or it may be fleeing domestic abuse, or the impact of drug and/or alcohol addiction often resulting in prison.
It may be due to eviction from a privately rented property. Or the individual may be vulnerable or have mental health issues, resulting in a lack of capacity to make sensible life choices.
Usually, individuals present with more than one issue, and some are battling a combination of several.
Jean (not her real name) is also a regular at LATH. Here is her story:
‘I came to LATH after my PIP (Personal Independence Payment) was reviewed. During the appeal over this, I had no money for food or electric. I was desperate. At LATH, they made me feel welcomed from the first day I went. They offered me a hot meal and helped me with food, sanitary products and some money to heat my flat.
I still come regularly to LATH. It breaks my day and helps give me structure and routine. The volunteers are nice and helpful, and I have the opportunity to talk to other people, which is all positive for my mental health.’
The statistics on homelessness are stark. Over 340,000 people in England are homeless, stuck in temporary accommodation, such as hostels and bed and breakfasts or sleeping rough (source: Shelter). The Government’s rough sleeping snapshot revealed that the number of people estimated to be sleeping rough in England on a single night in Autumn 2024 was 4,667, an increase of 20% from 2023.
And according to the Office for National Statistics, the life expectancy for homeless men is just 45 (for women it is even lower, only 43). LATH is just a small charity, but together with other charities in the Crewe area we are doing our bit to alleviate the issues of homelessness and poverty for those who have least in our community.
‘The Christian belief that all of us are created in the image and likeness of God teaches us that every person has value, every person must be treated with respect, every person has an inherent dignity, not because of what they achieve, not because of their status in life but simply because they are.’ (source: St George’s Catholic College).
As LATH Chairman Mick Tobin says: ‘We are never judgemental about what brings a person through the doors to our drop-in session. All we see is someone in need, and we have a collective drive to do all we can to help resolve that need.’
It’s now almost 1:00pm and most of the clients have gone. The volunteers are cleaning and packing up for the day. Today has been busy, but not as stressful as some days can be. We have seen 33 clients, two of them new to the drop-in session, prepared a light breakfast, hot drinks, a nutritious lunch for all-comers, and given out food for clients to take away.
In addition, we have issued items of toiletries, clothing and footwear; provided shower and washing facilities; notified the Outreach Service of the immediate housing need for two clients; helped a vulnerable client; and spent time chatting and listening to many regular clients. We’ll be back on Thursday to do it all over again.
The work of LATH is continuous. Every week we see someone new walk through our doors looking for some help, support and compassion. It is an independent standalone charity, and wholly dependent on donations and small grants to survive.
Because it has no paid staff or premises, this means that all of the money raised or donated goes directly to the welfare of its clients and the running of the twice weekly drop-in sessions. If you would like to help LATH to continue its mission, you can donate by bank transfer to: The LATH Group, Cooperative Bank, sort code 08-92-99, account number 67328615. Every donation, no matter how small, makes a difference.
We’re always looking for new volunteers to expand and enhance our existing team. Could you spare three hours on a Tuesday or a Thursday morning and be one of our LATH volunteers?
Everybody has skills, and it’s a varied skill set that makes a really good team. So, if you are comfortable talking and listening to people from different backgrounds; have a strong desire to help and empathise with people; or maybe you are recently retired and have experience in areas such as nursing, social work, catering, IT or accounting, then you could help make a positive difference to the work of LATH and we’d love to hear from you.
E-mail us at lathsecretary@gmail.com or call 07734 169721. Lastly, please keep the work of LATH, it’s volunteers and clients in your prayers.
Andrew Hendrie: St Mary’s, Crewe
