Case Study 1
How Loaves and Fishes has changed my life
Here’s a letter from one of our friends who has been helped by Loaves and Fishes.
"I stayed in a hostel run by the Council. The man next door to me stayed there nearly 20 years. Every day started the same; the porter banged the door at 8am. The death knock they called it. 20 years of this? No way.
I had three mates and it was always the same. Whoever had the money bought the carryout, always a dozen supers. They talked about everything and nothing and how they beat the system, and cried like weans when their giros were late. It doesn’t have to be like that. One night I went to a soup kitchen called Loaves and Fishes and met a man called Dennis. He gave me a ticket for a place called Oasis.
The next day I went there and had my dinner. I was sitting looking out the window. I thought, “I used to live like this, everything clean, tidy, respectable people with things to look forward to. I could try and be the same again.”
I spoke to a care worker and got a place in a resettlement unit. It was starting all over again, how to run a house, budget your money, be responsible for myself. I went to a housing association and applied for a house.
It’s 11 months since I last had a drink. I still see my old mates. They’re still trying to beat the system. I’ve accepted it. It’s not easy, some days are hard but no way am I going back. I go out now with my head up instead of hanging down.
Who would have thought a wee man with a ticket could have started all that."
Here’s a letter from one of our friends who has been helped by Loaves and Fishes.
"I stayed in a hostel run by the Council. The man next door to me stayed there nearly 20 years. Every day started the same; the porter banged the door at 8am. The death knock they called it. 20 years of this? No way.
I had three mates and it was always the same. Whoever had the money bought the carryout, always a dozen supers. They talked about everything and nothing and how they beat the system, and cried like weans when their giros were late. It doesn’t have to be like that. One night I went to a soup kitchen called Loaves and Fishes and met a man called Dennis. He gave me a ticket for a place called Oasis.
The next day I went there and had my dinner. I was sitting looking out the window. I thought, “I used to live like this, everything clean, tidy, respectable people with things to look forward to. I could try and be the same again.”
I spoke to a care worker and got a place in a resettlement unit. It was starting all over again, how to run a house, budget your money, be responsible for myself. I went to a housing association and applied for a house.
It’s 11 months since I last had a drink. I still see my old mates. They’re still trying to beat the system. I’ve accepted it. It’s not easy, some days are hard but no way am I going back. I go out now with my head up instead of hanging down.
Who would have thought a wee man with a ticket could have started all that."