The Steeple Times

Tag: Homeless

  • Moron of the Moment – Shaun Bailey

    Moron of the Moment – Shaun Bailey

    Pontificating pillock Shaun Bailey proves himself unfit to be Mayor of London after curiously claiming impoverished homeless people can and should save £5,000 to get a home

    As we pointed out last March, Rory Stewart would have made a great Mayor of London. Sadly, since he’s no longer in the running, the “inept banger-on about being the son of a bus driver” Labour incumbent Sadiq Khan is getting the bloody easiest ticket-to-ride.

     

    Aside from an especially creepy looking American YouTuber and fan of David Icke named Brian Rose as an independent, all the opposition have managed to put up is a pontificating pillock named Shaun Bailey. This self-declared “different dude” is standing for the Conservative Party in spite of bizarrely previously branding himself “gobby and dangerous.”

     

    Having declared a pointlessly ear-piercing policy of giving free burglar alarms to 300,000 Londoners aged 65 plus and shown himself as a “foolish man with pockets plainly as large as China” in 2020, bombastic Bailey has returned to the fray this week. This Tory twit has now ludicrously stated that he believes 62,670 “homeless people in the capital would be able to save up for a £5,000 deposit to buy a share in a newly-built affordable home.”

     

    Reported on this morning in the Guardian and Mirror, Bailey’s off-the-wall remarks to Inside Housing included:

     

    “I don’t think the £5,000 [deposit to secure a mortgage] will [be a problem for those currently in temporary accommodation]. The mortgage application thing might be a bit tougher … They could save for it, yeah.”

     

    Going further, the Guardian reported that this “man of gimmicks” and “malicious” moron continued with his gibberish:

     

    Pressed by the interviewer on whether he was suggesting a homeless family in bed and breakfast accommodation could afford a deposit, Bailey replied: “Not all of them, but some people could. A full proportion of people could.”

     

    He added: “I know about that situation, I sofa surfed for years. You’re right, I definitely couldn’t have come up with £5,000, but those people I’m not expecting to or asking to. We’ll provide social housing for them.”

     

    Reaction to this nitwit numbskull was unsurprisingly that of “widespread bewilderment” and of him, Lambeth Labour councillor Ed Davie tweeted:

     

    “Famously, people living in poverty usually have at least £5,000 lying around – it’s amazing that it hasn’t occurred to them to simply buy a London property, which are well known for being really cheap. Thank God senior Tories are here to give out this good advice.”

     

    Whilst Sadiq Khan’s policies – such as the extension of Boris Johnson’s bonkers bike lanes – have been equivalent to driving a bus into a brick wall, Shaun Bailey has yet again proven something else: Here, indeed, is a berk who shouldn’t be allowed to be in charge of a bus ticket, let alone Britain’s capital. It’s time, instead, that Bailey was just put back in his box.

     

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    Moron of the Moment – Shaun Bailey – Out-of-touch Tory wazzock – Pontificating pillock Shaun Bailey proves himself unfit to be Mayor of London after curiously claiming impoverished homeless people can and should save £5,000 to get a home.
    Birds of a Feather – Shaun Bailey with Boris Johnson. The fact that the pair “get on well” is proof enough that the loopy wannabe Mayor of London is unfit for office.
    Moron of the Moment – Shaun Bailey – Out-of-touch Tory wazzock – Pontificating pillock Shaun Bailey proves himself unfit to be Mayor of London after curiously claiming impoverished homeless people can and should save £5,000 to get a home.
    Birds of a Feather – Shaun Bailey with now former Prime Minister David Cameron. The smug look on this duo’s faces sums up the “f**k the rest of you” attitude of these opportunists; here is a pair whose involvement in politics has caused nothing but disaster for everyone whilst their own pockets get deeper.
    Brian Rose’s decision to stand as a candidate to become Mayor of London was understandably greeted with mockery by ‘Coffeezilla’ and described as “some form of joke” by ‘From The Hornets Nest.’
  • Help the Homeless in Lockup 3.0

    Help the Homeless in Lockup 3.0

    Matthew Steeples suggests the government has made progress with its decision to help the homeless in the UK during ‘Lockup 3.0’ – but it must go further

    On Christmas Eve, we featured the tragic story of Knightsbridge’s Brompton Road morphing into a ‘tent city’ for the homeless and now with a nationwide lockdown this January with ‘Lockup 3.0,’ it has become even more essential that these unfortunate people are given more help.

     

    This morning, for once, came good news in the Guardian in a report about the government telling councils to “redouble their efforts to house all rough sleepers, and make sure they are registered with a GP to enable them to receive a Covid vaccine over the next few weeks.”

     

    In addition to £10 million extra in funding as well, with the extension of the ban on evictions in all but the most extreme cases until at least 21st February also, for once, Robert Jenrick, the controversial communities secretary, has finally done something right.

     

    Of the decision, Jenrick remarked:

     

    “At the start of this pandemic we made sure that the most vulnerable in society were protected. This winter, we are continuing in this vein and redoubling our efforts to help those most in need.”

     

    Rightly acknowledged as a step in the right direction, in response, Jon Sparkes, CEO of the homeless charity Crisis, called the move a “lifesaving intervention [at the] most dangerous moment of the pandemic for those without a home.”

     

    As we said in December, remember this: One in three families are only one pay cheque away from losing their home; don’t think it couldn’t be you. Please be kind and considerate to the homeless and please join all urging this government to do more for such people during this dark, depressing, bleak winter.

     

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    Help the Homeless in Lockup 3.0 – New funds for homeless people – Matthew Steeples suggests the government has made progress with its decision to help the homeless in the UK during ‘Lockup 3.0’ – but it must go further.
    In December, ‘The Steeple Times’ reported on Brompton Road, Knightsbridge, London SW3 – home to Harrods and the Brompton Oratory church amongst other things – becoming a homeless hub. That people are living in such conditions alongside such wealth during a pandemic brings shame upon us all, but most especially upon Boris Johnson’s rudderless government.
    In June 2020, ‘Vice’ shared a video by the homeless filmmaker David Fussell with its 13.7 million followers. In it, Fussell gave “an insight into how the coronavirus epidemic has affected the homeless.”
  • Knightsbridge – Tent City 2020

    Knightsbridge – Tent City 2020

    As Knightsbridge’s Brompton Road turns into a ‘tent city’ for the homeless, Matthew Steeples urges readers to support such people this Christmas

    In September 2019, The Steeple Times illustrated the tragic paradox between wealth and poverty in Belgravia with a picture of a passed out homeless man and today, just as most of our readers likely get ready to sit down tomorrow to a veritable feast in their warm residences, we sadly have to reveal that Knightsbridge has gone the same way.

     

    In a year when we also featured the story of a heartless Conservative councilor named Karen Rampton wanting to “fine homeless people for sleeping in doorways,” the area of Brompton Road, SW3 just beyond Harrods has turned into a tent city.

     

    Aside from a charming, aged Irishwoman living in the doorway of the shuttered Bunch of Grapes pub, there are a total of seven tents along this strip. It is truly sad to behold and we urge all our readers to leave something good for such people wherever and whenever you can.

     

    Remember this: One in three families are only one pay cheque away from losing their home; don’t think it couldn’t be you and please be kind and considerate.

     

    Pictured top: Contrasting wealth and poverty with one of Knightsbridge’s ‘Tent City’ residences set against a £300,000 Rolls-Royce Cullinan 4×4 speeding by behind it.

     

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    Knightsbridge – Tent City 2020 – Homeless tents Bromton Road, SW3 – As Knightsbridge’s Brompton Road turns into a ‘tent city’ for the homeless, Matthew Steeples urges readers to support such people this Christmas.
    Knightsbridge – Tent City 2020 – A tent surrounded by rubbish situated on Brompton Road, London, SW3.
    Knightsbridge – Tent City 2020 – Homeless tents Bromton Road, SW3 – As Knightsbridge’s Brompton Road turns into a ‘tent city’ for the homeless, Matthew Steeples urges readers to support such people this Christmas.
    Knightsbridge – Tent City 2020 – Another tent is located opposite The Bunch of Grapes pub and the now closed Lord’s Food & Wine store.
    Knightsbridge – Tent City 2020 – Homeless tents Bromton Road, SW3 – As Knightsbridge’s Brompton Road turns into a ‘tent city’ for the homeless, Matthew Steeples urges readers to support such people this Christmas.
    Knightsbridge – Tent City 2020 – Further tents are to be found in Beaufort Gardens, a street where Firmdale Hotels operate the Knightsbridge Hotel, a chi-chi “luxury property” where rooms cost upwards “from £447 per night” this Christmas.
  • Wally of the Week – Mike Alan

    Wally of the Week – Mike Alan

    “International magician” Mike Alan goes mental with a cucumber after alleging a “razor sharp” M&S shelf “savaged” his coat and left him “looking like a snowman”

    At a time when 13,000 families are worrying about ending up in penury thanks to retail rotter ‘Sir Shifty’ Philip Green’s empire collapsing, there’s one very, very angry man with bigger issues to fry with the sinking high street shopping sector.

     

    Featured for “crying to the papers” first via the Facebook group ‘Angry People in Local Newspapers,’ an “international magician” named Mike Alan – a man mocked as the type that “shops in M&S but cuts a Lidl version of Richard O’Brien” – claims to have paid £75 for a coat that one commentator described simply as “I’ve seen nicer jackets on hot water tanks.”

     

    Aptly ‘Digusted of Tunbridge Wells’ (and yes, Mr Alan just had to be from Tunbridge Wells) moaned to KentLive’s multimedia journalist John James that he was left “seething” after an encounter with a shelf in the spa town’s Calverly Road Marks & Spencer store.

     

    Of the calamitous incident, Mr Alan – whom claims to have performed for both the Queen and the Sultan of Brunei – explained:

     

    “I went into the store like I do most days. I don’t have a problem with the shop or the staff themselves, they’re very polite. I go to look at a tin of biscuits and as I pull them off the shelf it rips my coat.”

     

    “I went to the desk and asked to speak to a manager and they said they didn’t have one on shift at the moment, I said ‘What are you? A corner shop?’”

     

    “By this point I looked like a snowman walking around with all the feathers coming out of my coat. I was told to call up head office.”

     

    Wally of the Week – Magician Mike Alan gets his coat savaged in M&S – “International magician” Mike Alan goes mental with a cucumber after alleging a “razor sharp” M&S shelf “savaged” his coat and left him “looking like a snowman.”
    Wally of the Week – Mike Alan – Especially for ‘Kent Live’ readers, “as seen on TV” Mr Alan shared an image of the damage he did to a cucumber with the offending shelf. He did not declare whether he paid for said vine plant fruit.

    Continuing of his subsequent lengthy less than magical correspondence with the retailer, Mr Alan – a man plainly lacking a Debbie McGee to do his biscuit buying – then angrily added:

     

    “They’ve denied it’s sharp, so yesterday I went back in there and cut one of their cucumbers with the shelf. And they still say it’s not sharp. It’s like a razor!”

     

    “All I’m after is for them to own up to it and give me £50 for the coat, which I’d give to a homeless charity so they could buy a coat.”

     

    “I’m just really annoyed with their attitude. I’ve not been going in there since the incident. I’ve sent an invoice to them, I’m going to charge them for every email I send them.”

     

    “The shelf is sharp and it’s at the same height as a child’s face. It’s a joke.”

     

    Plainly sick of this moaning Minnie, an M&S spokesman responded: “We are giving him a gesture of goodwill to cover the cost of his coat.” Magic that, Mike.

     

    Pictured top: Mike Alan displays his “savaged” coat for the benefit of readers of ‘Kent Live’ (left); previous encounters with retailers including Sports Direct feature on his Facebook page.

     

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    Wally of the Week – Magician Mike Alan gets his coat savaged in M&S – “International magician” Mike Alan goes mental with a cucumber after alleging a “razor sharp” M&S shelf “savaged” his coat and left him “looking like a snowman.”
    Wally of the Week – Mike Alan – ‘Angry People in Local Newspapers’ members had a field day with Mr Alan subsequently. “It’s not just any savaging. It’s an M&S shelf savaging,” remarked one Michael Burke.
    Wally of the Week – Magician Mike Alan gets his coat savaged in M&S – “International magician” Mike Alan goes mental with a cucumber after alleging a “razor sharp” M&S shelf “savaged” his coat and left him “looking like a snowman.”
    Wally of the Week – Mike Alan – “This is a proper Quentin Tarantino film in the making” added a ‘top fan’ named Marcus Marr. Another ‘top fan,’ Cath Dodge, added: “Wearing a natty hat does not make you a magician, mate,” whilst one Danny Beattie observed: “I know what has a problem, and it’s not the shelf!”
    Wally of the Week – Magician Mike Alan gets his coat savaged in M&S – “International magician” Mike Alan goes mental with a cucumber after alleging a “razor sharp” M&S shelf “savaged” his coat and left him “looking like a snowman.”
    Wally of the Week – Mike Alan – “That shelf could have cut a woman in half… and that’s my job!” mocked one Jim MacNee.
  • Monster of the Moment – Councillor Karen Rampton

    Monster of the Moment – Councillor Karen Rampton

    Conservative councillor Karen Rampton is a bigot who picks on homeless people and she is someone whom should be named and shamed

    Conservative councillor for Talbot and Branksome Woods Karen Rampton is a woman completely lacking in compassion.

     

    Featured in an article in The Guardian on Thursday, bleached blonde bimbo Rampton remarked of homeless people in her area:

     

    “We know that people leaving unattended belongings causes anxiety. Shopkeepers do not want people obstructing their doorways especially in these times of Covid.”

     

    Mrs Rampton and her colleagues wants to fine homeless people “for sleeping in doorways” and “ban behaviour such as drinking alcohol in public.” She wishes to issue those than commit such ‘offences’ with penalties of £1,000 in spite of the fact that they are likely penniless and she was rightly branded utterly cruel.

     

    Of her Liberal Democrat councillor Millie Earl rightly remarked: “[She is] very cruel. It’s completely counterproductive to hand out a fine to someone who is already in poverty.”

     

    Shame on Karen Rampton. We very much hope she is forced into penury and onto the streets herself. Let’s see how she likes it.

     

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    Monster of the Moment – Councillor Karen Rampton – Conservative councillor Karen Rampton is a bigot who picks on homeless people and she is someone whom should be named and shamed.
    Councillor Rampton unsurprisingly has been involved in sagas unfortunate in the past. She claimed to be the victim of a stalker in 2008. Here is a woman whom is most deservedly disliked. Shame on her.
  • Moron of the Moment – Lady Victoria Hervey

    Moron of the Moment – Lady Victoria Hervey

    Just as ultimate dumbo Lady Victoria Hervey shows herself up in stating “Fuck Black Lives Matter,” fellow aristo Dr. Bendor Grosvenor calls for the return of objects “looted during the British Empire”

    Dimwitted dope Lady Victoria Hervey just cannot help but shove her stilettos straight into the proverbial. Whether be it her short-lived relationship with “he who doesn’t sweat in Pizza Express (Woking branch’)” ‘Randy’ Prince Andrew, or flogging knickers in her long since gone-bust shop in Knightsbridge displaying the words “Yes Please” across the crotch, here is a woman with utterly no shame and an utter incapacity to accept any kind of blame for her own failings.

     

    Formerly nicknamed ‘Toff Totty Vicky,’ Lady Victoria predictably showed herself up by banging on about her associations with Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell last year. This weekend, the bubbly blonde went further in posting a picture of the defaced statute of the Confederate general Robert E. Lee in Richmond, Virginia on her Instagram page. She not-so charmingly captioned the snap: “Don’t ever tell me this is acceptable behavior [sic]. Fuck BLM [Black Lives Matter].”

     

    Described by even a fellow socialite, the late Tara Palmer-Tomkinson, as “unpleasant” and “a right snob” previously, “luxury is in my blood” Lady Victoria was contradicted by the Reverend Robert W. Lee IV, the general’s great-great-grandson. He “gave his blessing for the monument to be removed” on Thursday according to the BBC and asked: “If today is not the right time, when will it be the right time [to remove the statue]?”

     

    Going further of this situation on Twitter on Sunday, though talking in the context of the related British protests, fellow aristocrat Dr. Bendor Grosvenor – a distant relative of the present Duke of Westminster and a man best known for his stint on the BBC’s Fake or Fortune? art documentary series – tweeted:

     

    “Let the Colston statue’s removal be a prompt for councils and museums across Britain to take action to remove similar artworks from display, *as well as* returning the thousands of cultural objects looted during the British Empire. Start now. We’ve waited too long.”

     

    Sadly, yet not unsurprisingly, Lady Victoria – whose ancestor Frederick Hervey, 1st Marquess of Bristol ironically is best remembered as a “social reformer” and “an MP [who] voted for the abolition of slavery in 1807” – has previous form. In 2003, this ‘aristoprat’ stated: “It’s so bad being homeless in winter. They should go somewhere warm like the Caribbean where they can eat fresh fish all day.”

     

    Shame on this irrelevant ignoramus; it’s not Black Lives that don’t matter, it’s instead Victoria Hervey that doesn’t matter.

     

    Moron of the Moment – Lady Victoria Hervey on Black Lives Matters – Just as ultimate dumbo Lady Victoria Hervey shows herself up in stating “Fuck Black Lives Matter,” fellow aristocrat Dr. Bendor Grosvenor calls for the return of objects “looted during the British Empire”
    Lady Victoria Hervey with the Duke of York at a social gathering; supporter of the abolition of slavery and “social reformer” Frederick William Hervey, 5th Earl and 1st Marquess of Bristol (1769 – 1859).
    Moron of the Moment – Lady Victoria Hervey on Black Lives Matters – Just as ultimate dumbo Lady Victoria Hervey shows herself up in stating “Fuck Black Lives Matter,” fellow aristocrat Dr. Bendor Grosvenor calls for the return of objects “looted during the British Empire”
    Lady Victoria Hervey’s offensive Instagram post was unsurprisingly met with disdain by many. One responded: “Wait, hold up Lady are you saying Fuck Black Lives ???” Another added: “But think you got to be careful saying fuck BLM… That’s not acceptable TBH. It’s offensive.”
    Moron of the Moment – Lady Victoria Hervey on Black Lives Matters – Just as ultimate dumbo Lady Victoria Hervey shows herself up in stating “Fuck Black Lives Matter,” fellow aristocrat Dr. Bendor Grosvenor calls for the return of objects “looted during the British Empire”
    Dr. Bendor Grosvenor’s, by contrast, sensible tweet.

    Classic clangers from former ‘It Girl’ Lady Victoria Hervey:

     

    “I am Lady Victoria Hervey – it doesn’t get more British than that.”

     

    “Unless it’s champagne, I can’t handle it.”

     

    “I do have a day job.”

     

    “My career always goes much better when I haven’t got a man.”

     

    “A baby is easy – you hand them over to a nanny!”

     

    “I’m not stupid. I’m not a dumb model.”                    

     

    “[I aim to become] the next Kate Winslet – but with class.”

     

    “I have had four past lives, three of them as a man. I was a composer in 17th-century Paris, I made materials in India and in Ancient Greece I was a famous politician. In Ancient Egypt I was keeper of the oils for the Pharaoh’s wife, and I love oils so it all kind of fits.”

     

    “What annoys me is when these families have got like 12 children and we’re paying for these kids… They work out that they make more money being on the dole than having a job, they just laze around.”

     

    “The real irony of this is that the poor get poorer and the rich get richer.”

     

    “Travelling is in my blood, and so is liking luxurious things and spending.”

     

    “I haven’t given up on men, there are a few of them around, but I keep leaving every city I meet them in.”

     

    “Everyone from Europe wants to buy houses in LA.”

     

    “I was too old for Jeffrey Epstein… [He seemed] very charming… He was a very well-liked guy.”

     

    “I’m not one of those kind of girls, I don’t like going to dinners with ten models invited… I was very young and impressionable, Jeffrey was a very charismatic man.”

     

    “I haven’t seen [Ghislaine Maxwell] since September [2018] at a friend’s baby shower… I don’t think anyone is going to find her. She’s gone far away. She’s a bit like a James Bond character. She’s quite a unique person and I don’t believe anyone is going to find her… I don’t think we will ever see her again, it’s going to be like Robert Maxwell continued; she will continue that family mystery.”

     

    “I had no idea what was going on [with Jeffrey Epstein]… It’s extraordinary it’s the case, it’s a wild story.”

     

    “I suddenly thought, I’m just Victoria Hervey… Horrible.”

     

    “I don’t want to make enemies.”

     

    Pictured top: Lady Victoria Hervey with Ghislaine Maxwell, the alleged madam and procurer of girls for paedophile Jeffey Epstein.

     

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  • Penny Streeter OBE (née Penny Stiff)

    Penny Streeter OBE (née Penny Stiff)

    A classic ‘rags to riches’ tale is that of Penny Streeter. Born in what was then Rhodesia, this police superintendent’s daughter came to England when she was 12 and worked on Margaret Thatcher’s Youth Training Scheme and in Pizzaland at the age of 16. She went into business with her mother at 22, went bust and after ending up living in a homeless refuge with her children, worked her way back and launched what has become A24 Group, a healthcare recruitment agency in 1995. By 2002, this hard-working woman’s company was the “fastest-growing company in the UK” and in 2019, she was listed as being worth £208 million in The Sunday Times ‘Rich List.’ Streeter and her husband now own a vineyard in South Africa and a winery in Horsham, West Sussex. We say: Cheers to her!

  • Alan Holmes (1943 – 1996)

    Alan Holmes (1943 – 1996)

    Attacked for just £1,000 in his own home in Parkway, Camden, NW1 on Christmas Day 1995, Derry born police mechanic Alan Holmes was left “tightly tied” to his bed, face down and fully clothed for ten days in a building where he was the last remaining tenant. Discovered only after he failed to show up for work on the 4th January 2006, he survived for one night more and was able to explain the appalling crime perpetrated upon him before dying as a result of “horrendous injuries,” blood clotting and dehydration at University College Hospital, Bloomsbury. In spite of a £20,000 reward and (sadly too grainy to be of much use) CCTV images of individuals using his bank cards being made public, Mr Holmes’ “cold and ruthless” murderers have never been apprehended. Of this generous “quiet soul” and multiple sclerosis sufferer, his sister, Mavis Yule, later remarked: “He was a friendly, gentle person. He loved poetry and should have been a writer. He was very kind and would have given you the shirt off his back. Living in London, he saw people begging and sleeping in doorways. He felt very sorry for these people. He may have given them money for soup or given them a blanket – but he would never have let anybody he did not know into his flat.” In 2016, Richard Osley, the deputy editor of the Camden New Journal, rightly asked: “Who killed Alan Holmes? We have to keep asking… As clichéd and contrived as it may sound, Alan Holmes, the police mechanic who was starved in his own home, is the ghost of NW1’s Christmas past… An appeal might seem like a token gesture, a shot in the dark, but it’d be something.”

     

    Watch ‘Crimewatch’s’ report on the case (aired Thursday 29th February 1996 at 10pm on BBC1), go to 5:20 minutes to start:

     

    Alan Holmes (1943 – 1996) – Tied up and left to die in his Camden home in 1995 – Attacked for just £1,000 in his own home in Camden, NW1 on Christmas Day 1995, police mechanic Alan Holmes was left tied up in the most cruel fashion. Discovered on 4th January 1996, he died 24 hours later as a result of the injuries caused by his thieving killers. His murderers have never been caught.
    The last known photograph of Alan Holmes, enjoying the company of friends on 25th December 1995 (as seen on the BBC’s ‘Crimewatch’).
  • Positivity From Pleurat

    Positivity From Pleurat

    Refugee turned “one-man vodka band” Pleurat Shabani shares a message of positivity (and a reminder that we’ll all be having a martini or three together again soon)

    Having escaped the civil war in Croatia, Kosovo born Pleurat Shabani headed to London in 1994. He, unlike Dick Whittington, did not find streets paved with gold but ended up working as a lavatory cleaner and kitchen porter.

     

    Later, forced onto the streets after losing his job at Soho House, Shabani “hit rock bottom” but did not give up. He found a job as a glass washer at Oliver Peyton’s Atlantic Bar & Grill – which ironically was later ‘sunk’ by Marco Pierre White’s Titanic restaurant – and after being promoted to a role as a bartender, began a journey that ultimately resulted in the creation of his own vodka, Konik’s Tail.

     

    Shabini, without the big money backing most spirits brands garnered in the early-to-mid 2000s, is a surprising success story. We reported on it back in 2014 and in spite of his shoestring budget – and the fact he literally had to glue his own footwear together (he considers them “ part of his journey”) – Konik’s Tail is now stocked in everywhere from Dukes Hotel to Waitrose.

     

    Now, at this time of lockdown, the notoriously shy luddite Shabani has taken to social media and on Instagram, a place he’s only posted once before, shared a message of positivity that we should all heed. It follows in full below:

     

    “First of all, I hope this finds you well in these increasingly challenging times of disruption and enormous changes to the daily lives of all of us. Together, we have learnt that passion, optimism and community will help us all come out stronger.”

     

    “The pride of who we are as a community is not part of our past, it defines our present and our future. You have inspired me. Your presence has inspired me. Your friendship has inspired me. And, your stories have inspired me.”

     

    “Together we will succeed and that success will belong to everyone of us. Better days will return. Stools behind the bar might be empty, no late nights, no last calls, but this – you are not forgotten. Our hearts are full of love until we are reunited again. I know we will be with our friends again, with our families again and I know we will share a Konik’s Tail martini again.”

     

    “Spread the love and positive energy, help a friend, even a stranger. Until we meet again, be well, be safe and love each other. My warmest wishes to you all and thank you from the bottom of my heart.”

     

    Konik’s Tail Vodka is available from Waitrose for £38 for a 70cl bottle. Thankfully they can still deliver it – so have your chilled martini glasses at the ready.

     

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  • Praise Be To Pret

    Praise Be To Pret

    Matthew Steeples salutes Pret for doing more than most to help homeless people get jobs and permanent accommodation; others and the government should follow suit

     

    Pret a Manger has come under a lot of flack lately – due to two customers dying having an allergic reaction to their products – but now, this in my view, wrongly maligned chain has again done something truly good.

     

    At a time when our rudderless government keep banging on about achieving the impossible – in telling a blatant lie in claiming they will end homelessness by 2027 – Pret’s charitable foundation is to invest a further £200,000 a year into a homeless hostel in Kennington, London on top of their already vast commitment to helping those living rough.

     

    Praise Be To Pret – Pret should be saluted for helping the homeless – Matthew Steeples salutes Pret for doing more than most to help homeless people get jobs and permanent accommodation; others and the government should follow suit
    The ‘Pret House’ in Kenington, London will accommodate 13 ‘Rising Stars’ working in nearby Pret stores initially. The firm plans to expand this to 26 bedrooms if the scheme proves successful.

     

    Aside from continuing to give over 3 million meals a year to homeless people across the year every year, the Pret Foundation will now also provide further jobs and training through their ever expanding ‘Rising Stars’ and ‘Shooting Stars’ programmes. Presently the firm takes on at least 40 homeless people as employees each year and over the last ten years has hired a total of 450 individuals as a result of such.

     

    Of the scheme, Clive Schlee, chief executive of Pret, a firm with 450 outlets and group sales of around £800 million per year, remarked:

     

    “Everyone in London can see that homelessness is becoming more of a problem. In an ideal world there would be no homelessness but we are doing something because others are not doing something about it.”

     

    Other businesses – most especially those in the hospitality sector – should follow suit in providing food and accommodation for the homeless. Theresa May and her uncaring government, meanwhile, should be wholly ashamed of themselves for offering nothing but platitudes. They should man up and do a hell of a lot more to end a situation which is resulting in over 600 people dying on our streets each year.

     

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