Dear Friend, My first task is to thank you for your continued support of St. Mary’s Church, on the ‘low -gate’, in the Old Town of Kingston upon Hull. My further tasks are to tell you about this new and exciting venture of a monthly on-line magazine. There will be news as it happened from times long past; there will be news as it happens in this present time; there will be news of the plans for the eternal future. St. Mary’s has many unique features; these render the building and the people as subjects for fascinating exploration. Each quarterly magazine will therefore follow a theme with a feature which links times past, present and future. The present is a critical time for St. Mary’s. As the bearer of seven hundred years of our City’s rich history and culture, there is pressure on us to rightly represent that richness to the world. This pressure comes from the several directions, some from our own internal needs and some from those of the community. The interior of the wonderful building is desperate need of basic repair and upgrading for basic contemporary public safety and comfort. To continue to be a place of excellence for worship, artistic exhibitions and performances, and the care of the vulnerable, our facilities must be adapted. As 2017 approaches, the year when Hull celebrates being the City of Culture, pressure comes to us to be worthy of that title. By reading this magazine you will be able to keep up with all the developments. You may even want to help us, especially if you have special skills to offer. In the meantime we hope you will enjoy journeying with us. Thank you. The Reverend Paul Burkitt Priest- in- Charge. (December,2015).
‘Almighty God, give us grace that we may cast away the works of darkness, and put on the armour of light, now and in the time of this mortal life, in which they Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious Majesty, to judge both the quick and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through him who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, now and ever. Amen’
Advent Calendar December
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Tuesday, Soup. Sandwiches and Silence; 12.30-1.30pm
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Thursday, Midday Prayer; 12.30pm
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Friday, Holy Communion; 12.30pm
Advent Journal Traditionally the Season of Advent offers to us a time to prepare for the great event of the Incarnation. We are invited to open a new window of expectation each day and respond to our children when they ask, ‘How many more sleeps are there before Christmas?’ Clearly these yearly first weeks of December carry different meanings for each of us. These meanings lie somewhere within that spectrum from the scandalising secular to the highly holy. Unless our capacity is impaired we have a choice to express those meanings or not. For the Church, these four weeks are hardly long enough to prepare our hearts and minds for such a great event as the birthing of the Divine into this grubby human existence; for God to bother to clean up our life-style grubbiness! For the Church also it is a time to expose the vulnerable God to the vulnerable Human. God is Love, and Love is vulnerable. During this Advent I want to journey with you and explore, both in my sermons and in our study groups, two related notions; firstly what it means and what it looks like to be church in our City ?; secondly, how do we be within the subculture that I want to call, ‘The Inner City of the Vulnerable’? As the year of 2017 begins to loom large, I want to begin to explore the cultural, ‘Tale of Two Cities’.
Advent is a ‘penitential’ season; a season of sorrow for our misdemeanours and a season of reflection. In the process of doing that, as far as we can, it becomes a season of hope; a hope which the church does not hold to itself, but shares with those whose vulnerability exists because they have no hope. The Christmas story holds something for us all. It is a love story. The love of God for humanity is there; so too is the love and commitment shown within a struggling, essentially homeless, family unit. Alternatively, humanly it can be the most miserable of times. It can be a reminder of that which has been and is no more. Those who have hope are called to share it. The season of good-will has to break out of and break down the barriers that ill-will erects in our lives. The trouble taken is the measure of the meaning. May we seriously, day by day, open a new window during Advent. As a gesture, the church will be open on Tuesday lunch-times to be a silent carriage on your journey. An hour of silence, soup and sandwiches, a time to digitally de-tox, and put down the hand held technology. Silence will remind us that we are body, mind and spirit. All that preparation then leads us to the wonderful incarnational midnight of transformation.
AVoice from a Child’s Grave A mother’s story from St Mary’s past
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There was sorrow in the house. It filled all hearts; the youngest child of four years old, his parent hope and joy, was dead. They had two daughters remaining, both in good and excellent girls. The eldest was about to be confirmed; but the child that one had lost is the ever dearest, and in this case it was the youngest one, a boy and a son. It was a sore trial. His sisters sorrowed, and were moved by their parents sorrow. The father was bowed down, but the mother was overwhelmed by her excessive cries. Day and night she had been with her sick child; she had nursed him, lifted him up and carried him about, she felt as though he had been a very part of her. She could not comprehend that her child was dead, that he was going to be laid in a coffin, going to rest inn a grave. God could not take this child away from her, she thought; and when it came to pass when there was no more doubt it, she said in her unhealthy sorrow “It was not God that willed it, he has heartless messengers here on earth, which do whatever they think is right and disregard the mother’s prayers.” In her sorrows she fell away from God and straight away came the dark thoughts dark thoughts of death, of eternal death and that man was committed earth to earth. There was no support in such thoughts, nothing for her to cling to and she sank into the bottomless of nothing in her despair, in the heaviest afflictions she could do no more. She thought not of her daughters whom she still had, her husband’s tears dropped on her brow, but she still didn’t regard him. Her thoughts were with her dead child and the one aim of her whole being was to recall very remembrance of the little fellow, every one of his childish words. The day of the funeral arrived; for the nights before the mother has not slept but that morning overcome with weariness she fell asleep for a while, and during that time they took the coffin into a room far away.and their nailed it down, so that she couldn’t hear the sound of the hammer.
When she woke and looked for her child, her husband with many tears said: “We have closed the coffin, it could not be helped.” “When God is cruel to me, how should I be kind? “ She replied with tears and sobs. The coffin was taken to the grave; she sat inconsolable beside her daughters; she looked on them, but saw them not, for her thoughts were no more about her home; she gave herself up to mourning and it carried her restlessly to and fro. The day the funeral passed and many day followed dull, weary sadness. Her sorrowing daughters, her husband bowed down with grief, looked on to her with tearful eyes and a mournful gaze, but she would not listen to their words of comfort; and indeed, what could they say to console her. For they themselves were also afflicted. It seems as if no longer knew what sleep was, and yet it would have been her best friend, would have given strength to her body, so that she could bear the troubles of her soul. They implored her to lie down and rest; and this she did, lay still, as one asleep. One night her husband was listening to her breathing as he often did, and felt sure that she had found rest and relief. He folded his hands in prayer, and soon slept himself, so soundly that he did not notice when his wife got up, put her clothes on and strolled out of the house to go to where her day and night thoughts dwelled –to the grave where her child laid to rest. She hastily walked through the garden, and over the fields, where a path led to the grave yard. No one saw her as she went and she would not have looked at anyone for her eyes were fixed to the one object of her search. It was a starlight night; the air was mild. She cross the church yard, and stood by the little grave. She sat herself down and bowed her head close over the grave, as though her eyes penetrated the solid covering of earth to see her little boy, whose smile was so vividly present to her, the loving look of whose eyes, even on his sick bed were never to be forgotten!
How speaking was the look of him when she bent over and took hold of his wasted hand, which he had no strength to lift! As she sat on his bed, so sat she now on his grave, only now her tears had free course and fell where he was buried. “You might go see your child,” spoke a voice, quite close to her, it sounded do clear, so deep, it went through her heart. She looked, and near her stood someone wrapped in a black cloak, with a Hood drawn over his head; but she looked upwards towards his face, under the hood. It was stern. But one that gave confidence and his eyes shone with the fire of youth. “Hence to my child,” replied she with a tome of piteous entreaty in her words. “Dare you venture to follow me? “Asked the Shape; “I am Death.” She bowed her head, assenting. And a moment, while the stars above shone with the light of the full moon, she saw the varied colours of the flowers that where on the grave, and the ground gave away, softly she sank down while the shape covered her with his black cloak. It became night, the night of death: she sank deeper than any spade could dig and the churchyard was stretched as a roof over her head. The Corner of the cloak was drawn at a side: she stood in a yard hall, which was great size but not uncheerful. The dark regained around; but in front of her she saw, and in a moment she was closely embraced by her child, who smiled on her, and was more beautiful than she had had ever seen him before. She uttered one cry, and then -first near and then further off, and then nearer again- there swelled the sound of beautiful music. Never had such a heavenly sound fallen upon her ear; they sounded on the other side from the deep black heavy curtain, which separated the hall from the region of eternity. “My own, my darling mother,” she heard her child say; it was a well-known loved voice, and kiss followed kiss, in increasing happiness; and the child pointed to the dark curtain, and said “It is not so beautiful on earth.Do you see, mother? Do you see it all? Ah, this is blessedness!” But his mother saw nothing where her child was pointing to nothing but the dark night; she saw with earthly eyes and not as her child did whom God had called to Himself; and out was only the sound of the tones of the music that she heard. But she did not
perceive the words,-the words which she must yet believe. “I can fly now, mother dear. I can fly with the other happy children far away to God. I would so like to do so, but while you are upset, I cannot go and leave you, and yet I would like to. I may fly? I may not? You will be soon coming there to me mother.” “Oh! Stay,” cried the mother “stay only a moment; let me look at you once more, kiss you once more and hold you in my arms!” And she kissed him and pressed him to her heart. Just then she heard her own name! Oh how sad it was spoken! What could it mean? “Do you hear?” said the child. “It’s my father calling you.” and again, every moment were heard the deep sobs of weeping children, “It’s my sisters,” he said. “Surely mother you have not forgotten them?” She remembered those who were left. Anxiety overcame her. She looked into the hall, and shapes were sweeping continually. She thought she knew some of them, as they swept through the hall of death. As far as the dark curtain and then vanished. Perhaps her husband and her daughters had gone by? “Listen mother, there are the bells of heaven! “See the sun is just up.” A dazzling light came upon her; he child had vanished, and she was being lifted up. It felt cold all around; she raised her head and found that she was lying in the churchyard, on her child’s grave. But God had through a dream a stay on her feet, a light for her understanding. She bent her knee and prayed. “O Lord my God please forgives me, for stopping a soul in flight and I forgot my duties to the living, you have given me?” With these words her heart grew a light and the sun burst from the sky. A little bird sang and the church bells charmed. She recognised her God and she recognised her duties, and with longing steps she made her way home. She bent over her sleeping husband, her warm kiss woke him. “Where did you acquire this consolidation? “ She held her husband and her children and said, “God sent it to me, through my child who is in his grave.”
“This time of the Year some one loses a love one and the lonely are not to be forgotten.”
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Sunday Advent II; Sung Eucharist; 11.00 am; Guest Preacher, Andy Paxton, ‘Church and Culture ’ Sung Eversong 6.30pm (BCP)
Tuesday, Soup, Sandwiches and Silence; 12.30-1.30pm Discussion group, ‘Church and the Culture of Vulnerability; part 1’; 7.0pm –Vicarage
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Thursday, Midday Prayer; 12.30pm
The City Cloister As the year of the City of Culture 2017 approaches we at St Mary’s are grateful. We are grateful that we are challenged to define what we mean by ‘culture’; we are grateful that we have an opportunity to offer what it is that makes St Mary’s a cultural gem. St Mary’s unique offering is its integrated beauty which is an antithetical theatre of life; it is a corrective balance to the life frenetic. It is a quiet corner of the City where the sheer quality of life, at its most profound, may be enjoyed, cherished and celebrated. The building, the architectural ‘hidden gem’, has housed seven hundred years of ‘cultures’. Today the people of St Mary’s emerge as if from medieval mists and embrace a sense of modern monasticism. Prayer, care, work, hospitality are the hall marks of a monastic life. This is a way of life which means drawing apart from the tyranny of the daily race, yet being fully aware of what is happening. Every monk needs internet connection! The uniqueness lies in that St. Mary’s really is the ‘CITY CLOISTER’. From the beginning of time every culture has had a religious precinct of some kind; St Mary’s in the Old Town is such a place for enquiry and discovery. It is a place where works of artistic creation may be displayed and valued, as if ‘in camera’.
Paintings, sculptures, photographic images can be viewed in the sacred ambience. With an unsurpassable acoustic ambience, Concerts of music, recitals of poetry, and performances of drama may all be caressed ‘in chamber’. For those who seek a specific, identified, spiritual activity, then the sacred spaces ‘in choir’ are there as sanctuary for silence and prayer. This cloister also offers that essential dimension of inclusive welcome, hospitality and care. With the thrice weekly soup kitchens much of the care happens, actually or figuratively, ‘in churchyard’. St. Mary’s is a community to join. It is a community that can develop all that is best in our natures and offer alternatives, corrective for living. Like every monastic community the daily rounds continue; Church is open on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, 11-2pm. Prayers at 12.30, with Holy Communion on Friday. Sunday sees a Sung Eucharist at 11am with Sung Evensong at 6.30. Soup kitchens take place on, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, 6-8.0pm. The work of hospitality, maintenance and cleaning goes on. Whether it be in choir, chamber, camera or churchyard, there is a space for each and every.
11 Friday, Holy Communion; 12.30pm
12 Saturday, Hull Community Voices; anything from 150-250 voices! All can join in; 6.30-8.30pm
A Digital Detox
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Every Tuesday fro 12.30 -
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om December 01 - 1.30pm
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Sunday Advent III; Sung Eucharist; 11.00am; Guest Preacher, Shaun Turner, ‘Church and Culture’. Sung Evensong, (BCP), 6.30pm Christmas Performance; ‘Project Strings’, Hull University. 7.30pm
15 Tuesday ‘Soup, Sandwiches and Silence’; 12.30-1.30pm Visit by Gillshill Primary school; 2.0pm Discussion Group; ‘Church and the Culture of Vulnerability; part 2’; 7.0pm- Vicarage
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Wednesday Visit by Gillshill Primary School; 2.0pm
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Thursday ,Midday Prayer; 12.30pm
18 Friday ,Holy Communion; 12.30pm
20 Sunday Advent IV; Sung Eucharist; 11.00am; theme, ‘Saving the best ‘til last’.
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Tuesday, ‘Soup, Sandwiches and Silence’ 12.30-1.30pm
Recognised Parish Assistant St Mary The Virgin, Lowgate, Hull
You are probably wondering what a Recognised Parish Assistant is and what one does. I am actually wondering the same thing! I became a RPA in February of this year after attending 16 2-hour training sessions. The sessions were both interesting and intense. The first eight sessions were taken by all the students whilst the next seven were dedicated to the particular path each student wanted to follow.
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I chose to take the Pastoral Role module whilst my colleague April Heywood undertook the Worship module. That means we now have two people at St Mary’s who can assist Father Paul and the Parochial Church Council with the development of the church’s worship and its role in the community. My own role is still evolving and will, no doubt, continue to do so. Basically, I am meant to be a link between the church and its community. As a city centre church we have only a small number of people living in the parish but we are looking beyond the residents. We see our community as being those businesses in the city centre and the people who come in to the town on a regular basis. We are developing links with those charities that work with the homeless and disadvantaged.
Where do I fit in with this? I assist with services at St Mary’s and I am also a point of contact for the charities and cultural groups mentioned above. Where and when necessary, I assist with activities and events that they undertake at St Mary’s. It provides me with the opportunity to work with so many interesting and committed people. One of the most rewarding activities is working with Hull Homeless Outreach at their twice-weekly food kitchens. Hot meals are provided for the homeless, of whom there is a large number. Many people do not realise the extent of the homeless problem; they think only of rough sleepers. However there is an even larger number of people who are homeless as they sleep in hostels or “sofa surf”. Also we are trying to develop St Mary’s as a music and art centre. Over the last two years we have a wide range of musical events at St Mary’s plus plays and exhibitions. All have been well-received and help to raise the church’s profile as it develops its role in the community. The Church is open to visitors on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday for visitors, of whom there is an increasing number. Many are Hull residents but there are plenty of tourists. Nearly all comment on the peace that they find within the church and how wonderful it is as a building. Some visitors to church want somebody to talk with and that is also part of my role. Conversations may be religious, personal or just social. Sometimes just listening is enough. On other occasions more direct help is required. Such conversations are thought-provoking for me and each one adds to my experience which, hopefully, helps me to develop my skills. -Philip Withers
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Thursday Christmas Eve; Midday Prayer; 12.30pm Midnight Mass of the Nativity; 11.15pm
Artist in Residence
It is with great pleasure and excitement, that I have been invited to become artist in residence, at the fabulously stunning, early fourteenth century church. ST. MARY’S the VIRGIN, Lowgate, Hull. Situated in the old town. From the start of Advent on the 1st. December. Marking the start of important events and celebrations in the Christian calendar. Aside from ST. MARY’S beauty and ancient architecture, the wonderful appeal for me, has to be the lovely warm welcome to ALL people from ALL walks of life. Whether your rich, poor or homeless. A Catholic, Christian or an atheist. ALL are welcome and ALL are friends.
People visit ST. MARY’S or any other church for a great variety of reasons. Albeit it for some, just once in their lifetime. For me, it was by chance and coincidence, two and a half years ago. Into my work place walked Rev. Paul Burkitt who was introducing himself to local businesses in his parish. He also happened to be looking for artists to exhibit their work, for a week of culture and creativity. It was an exciting week! I met members of the congregation, bell ringers, poets, writers, musicians and artists. It also happened to be a time when I had external and internal battles going on. We all at some stage or another have challenges, tests and hurdles to jump. That week helped me get focused and grounded, and was to help me get through one of the most difficult periods of my life. I have been drawn to ST. MARY’S ever since. Four years ago, in the last year of my degree in art and design. I had a dream. I had designed and made a healing / meditation, cubicle and many people where there helping to install it. At the time. it was nothing like I was working on in my degree. The cubicle was made from stained glass and I was working with wood, metal and parchment paper creating 3D forms for my final show. It seemed like an impossible dream. I have since worked experimented with mosaic work, and done lots of painting, but nothing quite so adventurous as stained glass work or anything else on such a grand scale. I had no idea how I would build such a thing or even where it would go. Never the less, it planted a seed. that has now grown some roots. I am hoping that eventually we will have stems, then some flowers. I may not be building a cubicle or working with stained glass. But I am hoping to create something that will resonate with people. Something that has the potential to uplift. I am looking forward to the challenge. Thankyou ! Love and Peace to All- Dawn Lord
Hull Homeless Outreach A
s homelessness in our Country and also here in Hull continues to rise we must pause and try to understand how this can be happening in such a rich country, we must also try to understand what it truly means to be homeless. When we think of homelessness we tend to think it is about someone being without a roof or being hungry. In reality, it is much much more than this. It is a feeling of being unwanted, unloved and uncared for, being so terribly lonely that one begins to lose all hope and slides into a downward spiral of depression and then quite possibly into the depths of addiction. Once you get so low having all of your dignity stripped away it becomes almost impossible to get yourself back up to feeling positive and going on to living a full and happy life. There are a number of organisations here in Hull which have a number of volunteers trying their hardest to help the homeless community feel wanted and hopefully give them a positive outlook. Hull Homeless Outreach is just one of those organisations who operate from St Mary’s Church on Lowgate in Hull, which is an organisation run fully by volunteers. We have found that here in Hull there is no shortage of good people who are able to empathise with those less fortunate and are always willing to volunteer their time and give practical help where needed. Homelessness, we have to understand is not just a housing issue. Not having a decent home will adversely affect all areas of a person’s life, from their health, to their achievement at school if they are a child, and their ability to find work if they are an adult. And ofcourse, if that person is struggling with health or employment, this will in turn affect their housing needs and the secure tenure of their home. People tend to become homeless for a wide variety of reasons: Relationship break down, usually a person is forced to move out when they have nowhere else to go. Private tenancies quite often will only last for six months to a year, and once they come to an end
on their benefits being paid. The Situation of each and every homeless person is a unique and complex issue. However it is believed that the main underlying cause of homelessness is a lack of affordable housing.
people find they are facing homelessness due to a lack of other affordable options. When living in an abusive home life, many children take it upon themselves to run away. When there is a reduction in or loss of income due to ill health or unemployment, or a rise in interest rates, someone could find themselves unable to keep up with their mortgage repayments. People on a low income who perhaps rely on housing benefit to cover their rent may face eviction due to errors, delays and or sanctions
Many people still believe that homelessness is the result of personal failings. However homelessness is caused by much more complex issues including someone’s personal circumstances, and the adverse situations which are outside the person’s direct control. These problems can build up over a long period leading to the final impact where the person has to face up to becoming homeless. Hull Homeless Outreach have found that the numbers of homeless people here in Hull are rising month on month and with services cut to the bone the plight of our homeless community has come to depend on the good will of the people and charity Volunteers of Hull. A number of organisations have mobilised here in Hull to ensure our homeless community can survive what looks to be a very harsh winter.
Hull Homeless Outreach will continue to provide hot food and drinks, warm clothes, sleeping bags and advice. And will provide a Christmas meal on Christmas eve at St Mary’s Church on Lowgate in Hull. Dock House on St Peter Street have reopened again for the winter months, which means there will be a number of extra beds for our homeless to use, They also provide hot food and the ability to shower and discuss any issues with an outreach worker. Jubilee church are now providing meals and advice on a number of days/evening through the week. There are also a few other organisations out there helping to ensure that our homeless community can survive. Although we have these organisations many of which are operated by volunteers, this is not a solution to the problems of homelessness. It is essential that we as society in Hull make it clear to the City Council that we wish to see more being done. History is replete with examples of “The Power of One�. Every man, woman and child has the potential to live a purposeful life. The purpose or personal mission to make a meaningful contribution to the advancement of humanity; conserve other species and the protections of the environment are some personal missions that could be your destiny. Only a few of us will however pursue our personal mission. 1. Many who are clear about their purpose came to that realization through different revelations such as: Others affirming a unique gift or talent that should be pursued: healing is one such gift. 2. A deep empathy for vulnerable groups or individuals: the homeless and indigenous cultures are two examples 3. Surviving a life-threatening experience: 4. Experiencing a life-altering or changing moment. 5. A religious calling to serve or do missionary service. It takes only one person to take action that will make a difference to the life of a less fortunate individual. Basic human needs are food, shelter, clothes, provisions for a shower/bath and some level of interaction with others. Many of us are fortunate to have more than our basic needs met and so should seek an opportunity to give back. This is good karma. The group that comes together to provide a service to the most vulnerable in the community also benefit from the act of coming together to socialize and have exchanges. As more and more individuals here in Hull take time out to decode his or her purpose in life, gives hope that the City of Hull will indeed be a better place for those who volunteer their time, share their gift and give of their energy. With a year on year rise of homelessness it looks like things can only get worse before we see any positive change in the situation. Organisations such as Hull Homeless Outreach wish to, with the help of the people of Hull Raise awareness to the fact that there are so many long-term empty homes. Carry out research and attempt to develop and work with others in a bid to test ideas for getting long-term empty homes back into use for those in dire housing need. Give encouragement and any advice for those people seeking to bring empty homes back into use, or are concerned about empty homes. Campaign to make changes to local and national policy and initiatives which will enable more action to bring empty homes back into use for those in housing need.
All of the Northern regions in England (North East, Yorkshire and Humber and North West) have a higher percentage of dwellings empty than the percentage for England as a whole. In the Yorkshire and Humber region in 2014, 77,117 homes lay empty. In October 2014 in our region over 1,000 homes were left empty for more than 6 months. The above figures are of local authority homes.
If we are to Tackle homelessness here in Hull we have to understand that it is not just about getting people off the streets. It’s also about finding a lasting solution to stop people from becoming homeless in the first place. Here in Hull 35 households are deemed to be homeless what is worse about this, is that 25 of these households are families with children, all are very close to becoming another statistic of those having to sleep on the streets.
- James Bowe - Founding Director To help or Donate please contact: james@hullhomelessoutreach.co.uk or telephone:: 01482 878331.
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‘Almighty God, who hast g take our nature upon him, pure Virgin; Grant that we children by adoption and g thy Holy Spirit; through th who liveth and reigneth wi one God, world without en
Friday, Christmas Day; Holy Communion; 10.00am
‘Almighty God, who hast given us thy only-begotten Son to take our nature upon him, and at this time to be born of a pure Virgin; Grant that we being regenerate, and made thy children by adoption and grace, may daily be renewed by thy Holy Spirit; through the same our Lord Jesus Christ, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the same Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.’
given us thy only-begotten Son to and at this time to be born of a e being regenerate, and made thy grace, may daily be renewed by he same our Lord Jesus Christ, ith thee and the same Spirit ever nd. Amen.’
Eliot
This time of year it is important to think about our families, friends, and the vulnerbale. Eliot had a mental illness and was an unfortunate soul, but with a liitle help we can stop this.
Ifirst met Eliot one cold morning as I was out to get some milk.
He was sitting on the pavement with his back against a shop wall, shivering in the cold, it was obvious he was homeless; he had no coat and very tattered trainers.He looked afraid and very sad, so I sat down beside him and began to ask him about his situation.As I spoke to him it became quite evident that he suffered with mental health issues. He began to tell me about how just over a month ago he came to be homeless and started to live on the streets. He had always lived with his mother, but sadly she passed away 2 months ago, he has been left all alone with no other family as his elder sister had died in a road accident 2 years ago. As his mother lived in a council property, when she passed away the council told Eliot he had only 10 days to give them the keys to the house, Eliot did not know where to turn, all of his and his mother’s belongings were in that house, he pleaded with the council to allow him to stay in the house as it was his family home, on speaking to Eliot the council response was to refer him to a mental health councillor who in turn informed him she would have to refer his case to a specialist, in the meantime the council took possession of the house and removed all of his and his mother’s belongings. He had nowhere to go and no one to turn to; he did not understand that help may have been out there, he had never been in the position where he would have to look after himself. He went to the jobcentre to ask for money and also a job, he saw some jobs that he believed he could do so asked to apply. The staff at the jobcentre told him that he must have an address before he could make a benefit claim and he would also require a bank account, I thought to myself this is quite wrong as the jobcentre staff could not have failed to notice that Eliot was incapable of sorting such things out. So he went to three different banks where he was informed that he would require three different forms of ID, and also an address. Eliot could not provide any ID as everything he had was in his mother’s house, he began to cry when he told me that he did not even have a picture of his mother or his sister as all were taken from his house, he said that he used to love looking through all of the old family photos with his mother but now he has none. So he just started wandering the streets being constantly moved on by PCSO’s and not allowed to rest.
At this point I really wanted to take him home with me, but alas, I was in secure accommodation and it would be impossible for me to sneak him in. So I helped him up and took him to a local cafe and got him a hot drink and something to eat, he informed me that he had not eaten for three days. After a long talk and a hearty meal we left the cafe and I took him to a general store where I purchased for him a back pack, some gloves, some warm socks, a hat and a coat. The look on his face was that of a child on Christmas morning, when we left the shop he went all shy on me and whispered something and I asked what he said and he looked at me and with tears in his eyes he said;” would you also buy me some toilet paper”. This truly upset me as it was something we all take so much for granted that I hadn’t realised that he was craving the feeling of being clean as he had always been when his mother was still alive. So we went to the corner Sainsbury’s store and I got for him his toilet paper and also soap, tooth brush and toothpaste, also shaving gear. Time was wearing on so I said to him that I have to go, but I will look into how one would go about getting help for him so wanted to meet him again tomorrow. So I asked where I might find him next day. He said that he would be at the cemetery where he spends a lot of time, as there is a nice bench there very close to his mother’s grave. So I told him that I would meet him there tomorrow morning and I left saying to him to try not to worry as I am sure that I can get him help. I spent the rest of the day visiting the council and every other organisation I could think of including the jobcentre and the banks.I felt sure that I had succeeded in arranging the help required for Eliot. Next morning I rose very early and worried about how Eliot had been through the night, after breakfast I signed out of my building and went off to the cemetery to give Eliot what I hope was good news. As I approached the gates of the cemetery I saw a number of police officers and also a black van, as I approached, the police stopped me and said I must wait here, I then saw two men wheeling a trolley out to the black van with what was obviously a body on it. They were then followed by a police officer carrying the back pack I had purchased for Eliot the day before, on talking with the police I soon discovered that Eliot had decided to, while beside his mother end his turmoil. There are thousands of Eliot’s out there on the streets, not only here in the UK but everywhere in the World, is it too much to ask that we all take a few minutes from our lives and seek out he Eliot’s and render them some assistance. written by James Bowie
Restoration News
The internal repair and restoration works are uppermost in all our minds. For St. Mary’s to extend and improve the many aspects of work in the community, the building desperately needs to be adapted. We have now been told that a little under £1,000,000 is what we are looking to raise! Removing the pipe organ and storing the working parts has to be the first piece of work. Building in toilet facilities will immediately follow on. After that will come the floor, the heating, a kitchen area, an exhibition/performance area, the lighting, and some storage and then some painting and the reredos! 2015 was our year to prepare, 2016 will be our year to get started. 2017 may be a year to enjoy some ‘culture’ along with the rest of the City. In January we hope to set up a ‘Restoration Development Committee’ which hopefully will consist of people who can fundraise, oversee the building, maintain a vision and general advice. If you have any experience that you feel you could offer then please come forward. There is a lot of legal and financial work to get through; stuff I never learned when training to be a Priest! In the meantime we are always in need of more funds. A good way to help is to join the ‘Friends of St Mary’s’. A present appeal is for help with the cost of printing this quarterly magazine. That would be for those folk who cannot access the internet. We shall endeavour to give you regular updates as there are any developments. Again thank you for your time and ongoing support. Paul
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St Mary’s the Virgin Lowgate, Hull Hu11EJ Contact us: Priest- in charge Rev Paul Burkitt 01482 218879 Lecturer Revd David Rogers Church Wardens Hilary Newton 01482 473766 John Howes 01482 225663 Church Vestry (office)
01482 618199