Results tagged “CATH” from Chester Chronicle - Chester Memories

When rough sleepers began congregating around hot air vents in a car park in 1972 the council responded by installing water sprinklers that sprayed the area every 30 minutes.

A group of local people were so concerned by this treatment of the city's homeless people that they found a derelict house to act as a night shelter, and Chester Aid to the Homeless (CATH) was born. Thirty-six years later, the charity's 36 full-time staff and 28 volunteers now run two night hostels, a day centre, five move-on homes, an education centre and a medical room. All the facilities will be on view during its open day next Thursday, May 22, when visitors can find out more about the charity's past and present work and future aspirations.

The first CATH shelter was at 27 Cuppin Street - a house earmarked for demolition - and provided basic shelter for up to eight people a night until it was knocked down in 1985. The shelter was soon oversubscribed so the group took on a garage opposite known as 'The Crypt' and later another garage in Oulton Place. These were basic shelters where 12 men simply slept on the floor or - if they were lucky - on a camp bed, sometimes without a blanket. Another problem was feeding the men. A small electric heater let them toast bread during the night but there were no facilities during the day.

In 1982 churches came to their help and established an inter-denominational group to run a soup kitchen every lunchtime. Lavinia Whitfield, of Newton, was one of the first volunteers at the soup kitchen from 1982 until it was replaced by the Harold Tomlins Day Centre in 2001. Today she still volunteers at the centre kitchen along with other former soup kitchen volunteers Barbara Clegg, Veronica Long and Philomena Humphries.

She said: "I was a teacher and had never done any work like that before, I didn't know what was going to come through the door. Then these very ordinary people came in and a lot of them were very nice. and I got to know them, had a laugh and a joke with them.

"We used to open for a couple of hours in the middle of the day and provide as much soup as they wanted and plenty of bread.

"It was amazing how they kept themselves clean. We gave them clothes but it was most unsatisfactory because there was nowhere for them to wash before they put the new clothes on."

In 1985 the first long-stay hostel was opened at Roodee House, Grosvenor Street, and Oulton Place was replaced in 1995 by the Crispin House direct access hostel. Lavinia says the charity has evolved - just as its clients have changed.

"When we first started this we thought it was a short term thing, that we would get everybody off the street and they would be fine, but it just doesn't work out that way.
"Back then it used to be middle-aged men with alcohol problems, whereas now unfortunately it seems to be younger men and more women.
"It certainly can happen to anybody at all. I have seen a young man come in who I knew and I was shocked to see him. His business had fallen apart, he lost everything, but he was one of the successes who got himself back on his feet.

"The charity has grown a lot and become very professional now. Imagine if you were to find a rundown old garage and stick some men in it now. You have got to have your policies and procedures in place."
Chief executive of CATH, Robert Bisset, feels it is "a pity" that charities can no longer act as quickly and directly as CATH's founders.

He said: "CATH started with a group of volunteers who realised there was a problem and did all they could with the few resources they had.

"In today's society it would be impossible to develop an organisation in that way. Central government funding is only given for projects that are strategically relevant to their programmes.
"I can see all the merits of this but if it is 11.30pm and you can give a homeless guy a makeshift shelter for the night and a hot bowl of soup, it is better than him being on the streets."