St Petrock's Christmas appeal 'shows there is still hope'

Each night there's up to 35 people sleeping on the streets of Exeter, and the city's St Petrock’s are highlighting both their stories - but also how lives can be turned around.

Peter Stephenson, St Petrock’s Director, said: "The message I want to get across is that there's always hope - just because someone is a rough sleeper that doesn't mean they are condemned to sleep rough for the rest of their lives."

He continued: “Sadly, we’re all too familiar with seeing people living on our streets and of course there are many others, hidden from view, sleeping in garages or sheds, on sofas or in cars.

“All of them have had things happen in their lives that most of us thankfully will never experience, and it is that traumatic experience that lies at the root of rough sleeping.

“Sleeping rough, people face extreme physical and mental hardship, as well as the constant danger of abuse and assault. It is incomprehensible that some still try to portray rough sleeping as if it were a lifestyle choice.

“No one chooses to be homeless.”

Alfie, who lived on the streets for eight years after growing up in the care system, is featured in the film with his little dog, Bambi. 

Speaking to St Petrock’s staff afterwards, he said: “I was grateful for a shop doorway, as often there are shutters nowadays. You have to put cardboard down to stop the damp getting in and you get ill in the winter. Once I caught pneumonia and almost died."

Alfie added: “At Christmas it was really hard, I used to watch people walking by with their children and felt invisible and lonely. If someone stopped to talk to me it made my day. One Christmas when it was cold, a lady bought some warm clothes for me.

”When St Petrock’s brought me hot coffee and breakfast in the morning after a freezing night, it meant everything.”

To donate to the charity click here

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