Saturday 24 December 2016 07:04, UK
Every day, more than 3,500 people sleep rough on the streets of Britain. Back in February, former Stoke City manager Lou Macari opened the Macari Centre for Stoke’s homeless people. He took Soccer Saturday's Johnny Phillips on a guided tour of the facility
Just a mile north of Stoke-on-Trent is the town of Hanley. It is here, in a handful of single story buildings on Hanley Road that the local council operates its Parking Services office.
Unless you'd fallen foul of the council's parking rules there would be no reason to visit. But over the last year another group of people have made this place home.
Behind the front reception, a couple of the office blocks have been converted into a homeless centre. There are male and female dormitories, shower and toilet blocks, kitchens and a common room. This refuge for the most vulnerable people in society, those who have nowhere else to turn, is all the work of former Stoke City manager Lou Macari.
"Well I was walking through Hanley one night, and people had told me there were a lot of rough sleepers there, it was about half seven at night. Very quickly I saw three or four people in doorways here and there. I think throughout the night I saw 20 to 25 people in doorways.
"I thought, 'This is ridiculous.' There was no need for people to be sleeping rough in any city where there are properties. My only intention at the time was to get these people off the street and keep them warm and dry. I thought that would be a good start."
So Macari called in a favour. He phoned a former sports journalist friend, from his time as manager at the Potters, who now works for the council and asked if there were any vacant buildings he could borrow to house the homeless. So when his mate offered him an empty part of the Parking Services office he took it.
"From day one we were given the facilities by the council and the beds and other equipment was put here for us from the start. The response from everybody in Stoke has been brilliant."
With the help of the city council and the many donors who have provided equipment and food, the Macari Centre launched last February. Walking around the place it is immediately clear how vital this facility is. All 17 beds in the men's room are taken each night and have been for some time.
"There are times when we get people in here who struggle to handle financial situations. They may get a fine for something minor or a bill and can't pay it and then they get stuck," Macari explains.
"They've got in a spiral that they can't get out of and they need someone to come along and show them a way out. Life has been tough for them. Sadly, the demand in Stoke is that we are turning people away at night, and you just don't want to do that."
This is the reality of austerity, where the welfare cuts have left the weakest exposed. Last year 1.1 million food parcels were handed out at food banks, 415,000 of those to children. Homelessness is an increasingly common sight in every town and city in the country.
Macari doesn't just front the project though, he makes it his business to know each homeless person who comes through the doors. They all know Lou, no matter how short a time they have been at the centre.
Sitting in the dining room which doubles up as a lounge area I ask a young lad who can't be much older than 18 how he found the centre. "The police brought me in here," is the reply.
"I can remember the day he came, I was stood at the gate and the police van turned up and he came out of the back of it," Macari adds. "He's not been a problem, maybe one or two little issues, but if we only have the odd little issue that's good. The big result we're looking for is these people to get back on their feet and be able to find work again and eventually somewhere of their own to live."
Macari believes it is important to invest time and effort in everybody who walks through the doors, no matter what their problems are.
"We had a gentleman from Lithuania and he was drunk every night and after three or four weeks I had given up on him because I thought we were making no progress whatsoever. He had threatened to kill himself two or three times and even tried to throw himself under a bus.
"And then one day he walked in and he wasn't drunk. He just stopped drinking. Three weeks later he came and told me he'd found a job and shortly after that he moved out. It taught me very early on not to give up on anybody. There are no lost causes in here."
The staff and volunteers at the Macari Centre help those that stay with all aspects of their life, giving them emotional support and administrative help when they are faced with appointments at the Job Centre, Housing Association or in court.
After our chat and the guided tour of his facility had ended, Macari took us over the road to the YMCA to join up with Stoke City's Community Trust who were laying on a Christmas lunch for the locals. The Community Trust works closely with all of the first team squad. On this occasion, Ryan Shawcross was on hand to dish out the turkey and stuffing.
"I've met Lou a number of times and it's a great cause," the club captain says. "The club are doing a lot with the homeless at the moment. Stoke has fallen on tough times recently. Lou was a massive fans' favourite here and for him to put something back into the city is great."
Stoke City have been playing an important role in supporting the Macari Centre. The club's Big Sleep out event takes place in few weeks' time on February 3. Supporters and other volunteers will spend the night sleeping rough in the stadium concourse for charity.
Macari will be there taking part too, along with his old kitman Neil 'Nello' Baldwin. Funds raised will go to the Macari Centre and other projects supported by Stoke City Community Trust.
But before that there is Christmas Day. This year, Stoke's homeless will have somewhere new to gather as the staff and volunteers at the Macari Centre provide a lunch and a much-needed place of warmth and friendliness.
You can see our trip to the Macari Centre on Soccer Saturday this Boxing Day from midday on Sky Sports News HQ.
