‘Well, Alfie, great to have you onboard then. You’ll understand how hard it is for some of our guys,’ Greg said, sounding ever so slightly bemused.
‘Mew.’ Of course I understood, but I felt as if I needed to know more.
As we were given the tour, we met some of the people who used the shelter, and those who worked there– all volunteers giving up their time to do good. It was immediately humbling.
I felt choked up as I met some of the homeless people; some were old, and should have been looked after, others too young to be in such a predicament. There was an array of ages, and a mix of females and males. It seemed that homelessness didn’t discriminate. But they were all so nice and friendly, some shyer than others. Most wanted to pet us, which of course we didn’t mind one bit.
‘It’s still a bit quiet,’ Greg said. ‘It’ll start getting busier soon as people arrive for an evening meal. And we always need more clothes, toiletries, tents, and sleeping bags, which, if we get extra money, we can buy in, but we still always welcome donations of course.’
‘I’m going to get everyone in my office to bring something in for the shelter – I’ll call it our Christmas project,’ Jonathan said. He was quiet, as if the reality of what went on in the shelter was sinking in, and he kept petting my head, as if for reassurance. I wasn’t shocked – I knew from when I was homeless that it can happen to anyone – but I was definitely sad.
Everyone here had a story, you could see it in their faces, their eyes, their tattered clothes. I was so surprised that they were all trying to be cheerful. Despite having so little, they still managed a smile. It was heartbreaking and I realised being a sheep was a tiny, tiny price to pay… I was definitely humbled. And I needed to be. We needed to make this the biggest, best show ever, and I knew we would. I could feel it in my fur.
‘Oh, I’ll get some of the companies I work for to donate as well,’ Polly said. Matt agreed that he would get people he worked with involved, and they also asked for ideas for what the shelter could use for Christmas gifts. It was decided that gloves, scarves, and hats would be the most useful, so Claire said if Greg could get her a list of roughly how many women and men he expected for Christmas, she would organise that each got a parcel with that in. She said that they would all be gift wrapped because everyone deserved to get a nice gift wrapped present at Christmas. I felt so emotional as they discussed ways they could help, although I could hear in their voices they all wished they could do more.
‘We are so grateful, I can’t tell you,’ Greg said. ‘And of course, we’re looking forward to the show.’
‘Well, I hope that you can join us for the dress rehearsal, and we’ll put on some food afterwards too,’ Claire said. ‘We’d love for the cast to meet the people they are doing this for. We can discuss numbers nearer the time, but we’d like to accommodate as many as possible.’
‘Thank you,’ Greg said, sounding a little stunned. ‘You don’t know how much this means to us.’
‘You’re doing a wonderful job,’ Polly said. ‘This place is amazing.’ She had tears in her eyes.
Harold surprised me the most; he was going around carrying Snowball and introducing himself to people, telling them he was being Santa in the show, shaking hands as if he really was Santa. It was funny because he wasn’t normally this sociable … or this cheerful, for that matter.
‘Meow,’ I said loudly from my place in Matt’s arm, who had taken me from Jonathan. I was thinking of ways to make this even bigger.
‘I’ve got an idea,’ Aleksy said. ‘How about one evening we get the cast from the show to come here and help out, and we can get the local paper to come to that? Can we do that, Mum?’
‘Sure we can.’ Franceska put her arm around her son.
‘Wonderful idea, Aleksy,’ Greg said. ‘And, it’ll be a real treat for them to see the show, they don’t get many invitations.’
‘Don’t bank on it being that good,’ Jonathan said, but he was joking. At least, I hope he was.
‘Not funny,’ Claire said. She was right; so often his jokes weren’t.
‘Hi, I’m Lisa,’ a young-ish lady said as she came up to us. She was wearing a thick coat, which I was pleased to see looked quite warm, because goodness knew how people were supposed to survive in this weather. ‘Can I stroke your cat? I used to have a cat but I lost her and I miss her so much.’ Lisa sounded emotional. ‘I love cats.’
Matt placed me in her arms and she stroked me. I purred to her to give her reassurance. I was pleased to make a new friend and I nuzzled into her, trying to show her that I cared.
‘Hey, you are gorgeous,’ she said. ‘And the others too. I hope you’ll come back again.’ She stroked me one last time and gave me back to Matt.
‘Meow.’ I’d be delighted to.
‘Lisa is one of our hopeful cases, we’re hoping to get her into some accommodation before Christmas, and then she said she would get a cat as soon as she was able,’ Greg explained.
‘Yowl.’ Lisa was clearly a very clever young woman.
George jumped down and jumped onto one of the empty tables. Before anyone could get him, people lined up to fuss over him. He did a bit of showing off; he jumped a bit, rolled around and then sat looking adorable as they took it in turns to stroke him.
‘Honestly,’ Jonathan said. ‘He’s such an attention seeker.’ But at least everyone was laughing. The shelter became full of life as George entertained, meeting the people who we were doing the show for. It was wonderful. I had no other words – I felt warm and fuzzy, sad, but hopeful, allat the very same time.
Before we left, I noticed that Jonathan took his wallet out and gave Greg a bundle of notes. I puffed my chest. I was so proud of everyone; we were all working together to do something good. And as we left them enjoying a hot meal and company, chatter filled the hall, and cheers and waves followed us out. I hoped we would get to go again. We couldn’t do much but at times doing anything was much better than doing nothing.
My ego was firmly put in its place as we made our way home. I was so lucky and it was time to count my blessings. Even if being a sheep was one of them.
Chapter Sixteen
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The shelter visit had made us all see the show as even more important, and so we all upped our game. We knew that if we could raise money, get the gifts and also extra clothes donated, then at least the people there would have a better Christmas than they would otherwise. Everyone was roped in to make it happen. The show was the focus but helping these people was more than just the show, if that makes sense.
Claire had a list of how many male and female people regularly visited the shelter and she was putting together the gifts. As well as hats, gloves, and scarves, she was also going to put a basic toiletry package together, but she said she would hopefully have spares as there could be more people needing them come Christmas. She had managed to get a lot of help for this already. The primary school where Toby, Henry, Martha, and Summer went were asking parents to help, and local shops had also agreed to get involved. Jonathan’s company, as well as sponsoring the show – he had put himself in charge of budget and wouldn’t let anyone spend a penny unless it was totally necessary – had encouraged its employees to all buy a coat or a sleeping bag, and they had readily agreed. That or they’d been given no choice, I’m not sure which.
Franceska and Tomasz had increased the amount of food they were taking to the shelter every day, now, so more people could be fed. Harold said that his senior centre friends didn’t have much money but he would ask if they had any clothes spare, and Marcus, Polly, and Matt were raising funds at their offices to help as well.
In addition to all that, the show was taking up more and more of our time. It had been cast now, and Aleksy and Connie had informed people of their roles and what they needed to do. It was all coming together well as we prepared to start rehearsals. Rehearsals had to be fitted around school and work, so they would be held evenings and weekends and Claire said that they could draw up a schedule to rotate who was rehearsing when to save time. It was actually all very complicated, so I was glad of her organisational skills.