TO mark World Homelessness Day on 10 October, Anahita Hossein-Pour meets those helping the homeless in Andover.

It’s been 20 years since Valley Church bought The Bridge.

Dating back to the 1700s, the building was originally a place where those in need could come for help, and that purpose continues today as a lifeline to the homeless.

Co-ordinator Gail Kinross told the Advertiser how overwhelmed she can be from the kindness of those willing to help.

She said: “This is a very generous town that we live in, sometimes I sit here and cry because some people are so kind- and I am not a weeper.

“Our winter drop-in probably has 70-80 people volunteer , it is stupendous.”

Gail oversees the thrice weekly drop-in for the homeless, while over the winter, efforts scale up to to evening drop-ins every night to make being homeless “as comfortable as possible.”

Gail said: “The winter drop-in is one of our biggest commitments, we provide a hot meal, TV and a warm place to be.

“It’s not just homeless people that come in,we help anyone that walks through the door.”

Organising the kitchen and washing, making the tea and toast, Elaine and Yvonne are the Monday volunteers running the show.

Elaine has spent her Mondays at The Bridge for the past four years, and Yvonne has volunteered for over seven years as part of community champion job at work.

The duo look out for the regulars they’ve come to know, solving problems as they come along and have also attended funerals of those they lost to addiction.

Elaine said: “We get quite attached really, we must be the only people who do not pray for snow as we see our guys in the morning with soaking wet sleeping bags.

“We are not counsellors but we are mums.”

The 10am-1pm drop-in expects a usual 15-20 people come through its doors, and around 150 different people

annually.

Set up as a café area, drop-in users such as Neil - not his real name - can order from the bar and sit down with a bowl of soup and some toast.

Neil is a proud homeowner for the past two years and has a job at a pub and hotel.

He said: “It is nice to have a place to come to, sometimes I’m paying bills but don’t have enough money for food so places like this is really, really helpful.

“I have been in the gutter and I have got out of it, not completely but I’m getting there and I’m not mucking up this time.

“It was my Two Saints support worker who got me back into society.

“I thought I could do things my way and I have to admit the help was there but I just ignored it.

“But now I got my house and I appreciate it, and I do get off my backside and do things for myself.

“I couldn’t believe it when the manager offered me a job. I was grinning like a Cheshire cat.”

In 2016-2017, more than 400 households were prevented from becoming homeless by Test Valley Borough Council’s housing options team.

As nationally homelessness is on the rise, projected by charity Crisis for the number to go over half a million by 2041, Test Valley is working towards the new Homelessness Reduction Act in partnership with local organisations.

Recovery worker for Inclusion Piers Anning said: “Housing is a problem and substance abuse is just increasing with that problem.

“When you look at a service like The Bridge there is a lot of people we do not see, they do not come in at all.

“There’s a lot of stigma around it and guilt and shame they feel guilty about the situation all wrapped up in it with no motivation.

“I think Andover has a great community spirit, and places like here are good for building trust, it is about relationships and if relationships are built they are much more likely to listen to you.”