Gone, our occasional hedge lodger, has been under the hedge for the last couple of nights. Brrrr – very chilly and damp in the fog. He rang the doorbell very drunk on Wednesday evening, but we didn’t chat for long. This morning he was on the doorstep as I took the boys to school and there again when I returned. I was despairing about his housing situation.
Not the comfiest bed
As usual, he was drinking a bottle of Frosty Jack and listening to a cheap radio on headphones. But he was also mellow and happy. He asked me to take care of his new debit card that allows him access to his benefits. I declined, thinking that he’ll forget what he’s done with it, but I gave him a wallet to keep it safe.
Wonderfully, I also found out that he has does have somewhere to live – he’s in a hostel and has his own room. But he’s been too drunk to get himself home the last couple of days – hence the hedge sleeping. I’ve made a note of his address and am hoping we’ll be able to keep an eye on him. And that he’ll manage a winter without prison this year. The needs of the homeless are always complex, and Gone is extremely vulnerable, so I am very thankful that our prayers for him have been answered at last. And am praying that he’d keep it together enough to keep himself housed. He knows that he needs to but the confusion and anger brought by drink and mental illness always means that his home situation is precarious.
The Vicar's Wife 
Reminded me so much of Billy RIP – spent several months in a make shift under the A14 bridge until he discoverd us. One night we came home and in freezing conditions he was under a huge heap of duvets and blankets in the middle of the lawn. He then was given a flat with Tracey his girl who then subsequently escaped from him through a window and came to us for a night.Police came looking for her and Billy who had also gone missing. Months later he turned up again looking for a ruck sack, I gave him my daughters old school one,he went off happy . Later in the day my daughter said she saw him in a nearby town and he was wearing what looked like her rucksack – I had only gone and given him her better one ! we never knew what happened to them both until someone from a nearby hostel rang and told us Billy had died .Such a sad story yet we in our inadequate way managed to bring a little light to their very dark tunnel of dispair and unhappiness.