Tonight was bittersweet. It was the last official Barnsley GoodGym run to visit BCDP on a Wednesday evening. In future, visits will likely be happening more sporadically and be listed as meet-at tasks. We were also set to welcome in a new member this arvo...

We set off from Glasshouse at the usual time and headed to Hope House to prepare for the evening's deliveries. At Hope House we were met by a couple of familiar smiley faces- Jack and Peter. We swiftly set about stuffing snap sacks full of sweet snacks! In each one there was to be a biscuit bag (consisting of 2 bourbons, 2 custard creams and 2 'nice' biscuits), a carton of juice, a cheese sandwich, a bag of crisps, a chocolate bar and a bottle of water. We also made up an insulated mug of coffee to take out with us (more about this later!).

With all items packed up for the nights trip we fell in for the mission briefing. Using smartphone maps we were designated two known camp locations to investigate.

The first was in the grounds of St Mary's. Here we found evidence of rough sleeping in the form of a flattened tent but with no evidence of any recent occupants. Barnsley Council have accommodated rough sleepers for the cold season. A commendable policy. We reported our findings to the group and moved on to the next camp. This one was way down in the valley behind the old Pizza Hut. Here we found evidence of a camp being used but with no-one around. Hopefully they too have been put up for the cold nights.

There was one last place to check on our way back to base, the Lidl car park. Here too we found no-one, and so headed back to base.

We were the first ones back, so dropped off all the unused items, locked up and left. About 50 meters from the church we found a man rough sleeping so agreed to go back to make him a hot drink and sandwich. When we returned to hand over the items, the fella had already been found by Peter's team who were just in the process of giving him a snap bag and coffee. We decided to give him an extra sandwich and hot drink too as an extra warm beverage and snack is no bad thing on a cold night.

After this, we said goodbye to Peter, Jack, Jo and their new recruit, and headed off to stretch off the nights exertions at Glasshouse.

First things first, to set the scene, this evening was dark, damp and dingy. We dutifully turned up at Buckley Methodist Church and after some messaging on WhatsApp we finally breached the threshold. We found the team already starting to get prepared for the night ahead. Jo was sandwich making, Trev was on hot drink duty making up flasks of tea, coffee and hot chocolate, and Jack was busy overseeing it all. Before opening the doors for the night we chipped in and made up some bags ready for distribution. The bags this evening consisting of a Rocky bar, a bag of crisps, a bag of select biscuits, either a cheese or ham sandwich, a carton of juice and a bottle of water. After aiding with the nights preparations we garnered some information about possible locations where people might be staying who don't make the trip to visit the drop-in. Tonight there were two or three main places to check out: the entrance porchway at St Mary's, the covered shelf outside one of the gyms in town and some of the greenspaces/parks in the center.

At St Mary's we found that the sheltered entrance area with benches had been security-gated off. How caring and good the church truly is! The homeless only used it at night and didn't leave a mess. We did a lap of the church to see if they were camped in the grounds like they used to be but only found a sleeping bag and cover stashed behind the bins. Further around we found a bag of clothes and bits left by the side of the road! Our next stop of the evening was the window shelf outside one of the gyms in town. This was a known camp location for one particular individual who speaks very little English. He wasn't there either and there was no evidence of anyone staying there (we think he may have been housed). Lastly we did a quick sweep of some of the other previous camp locations where we had previously found people, one of the pocket parks and some doorways. Alas, we didn't find anyone anywhere.

All that was left for us to do was head back to Buckley to drop off our bags and report what we had (or hadn't) found. It's likely that people are staying in the church area at St Mary's still so the BCDP are going to check there later on.

This arvo we were helping the BCDP with their efforts to aid the homeless of Barnsley. Alongside their drop in session where people can go to Buckley Methodist Church to receive a hot drink and food they also deliver to people unable to get to the church. This task fell to GoodGym on this occasion.

We made up a flask of coffee and gathered some cups with lids ready to distribute it to the people we found on our round. We also packed some carrier bags which were filled with sandwiches, chocolate, crisps and juice to give out alongside the hot drinks.

There were two destinations given to us to visit. One was a well known location where one person is usually camped in the town centre and the other was in the grounds of a church. We found the first person but the people in the churchyard appear to have moved on.

After delivering our goods we headed back to Buckley where we debriefed Jack, Jo and Trev before heading off to stretch back at Glasshouse TableTable. Quite a distance was covered tonight so this stretch off was very welcome.

Our visit to the BCDP on this hot summer's evening was lacking tall Peter, he was on his jollies, so tonight his grandson, Jack, was in charge. Arriving at Buckley Methodist Church we found Jack and two other volunteers prepping for the evening's visitors. GoodGym Barnsley helped with this preparation by making up flasks of hot chocolate and putting sandwiches in the bags of assorted food ready to distribute.

Our main task this evening was to visit various homeless camps around Barnsley. These were identified for us on a map by Jack. The main areas to check being some tents around the back of a church, a ledge outside some commercial buildings and the doorway of another church. We loaded up the flask of hot chocolate, cups and snap bags then set off to the first location on our list.

At the first location, behind a church, we found 2 tents. One of them looked as though it was being used but there was no-one around to give anything to. We have a policy of not leaving food at empty tents even if it looks as though it's being used. At this particular church they were having a meeting inside which we didn't want to disturb so they will have just seen heads bobbing along outside the windows.

Camping it up

At the second location we did find a man camped on a building's shelf. A chat was attempted but he doesn't speak English so this was difficult. By showing the bag of food in the familiarly branded livery he quickly understood who we were and what we were doing. During the attempted chat we were prompted to write something down for him. He spelled out the letters K I T A N G O, which I have since learned is a locality in Tanzania. He didn't want any hot chocolate and who can blame him on a such a sweltering evening.

At the third location there was no sign of anyone staying there.

We therefore headed back to Buckley to drop off the unused items and flask. They had had a fairly busy session but had managed it well, and hadn't had any trouble which is good!

We had a lovely short sharp run up to Buckley Methodist Church to aid with food and drink distribution to the local needy. Met by Peter and Jo we immediately set about making up the bags that would later be given out at the hatch. We also made sure there were enough stocks of sandwiches and flasks of tea, coffee and hot chocolate. After a few minutes it was time to open up shop.

On the hot drink desk

On the front desk we took the names and orders of the clients and handed out the desired items. The choices were for the type of hot drink and sandwich alongside the standard items- a bag of biscuits, a packet of crisps, a juice box and a couple of chocolate bars. Behind the scenes people were constantly making up new flasks of hot drinks and topping up the supply of bags ready to be handed out. It was action stations for a few minutes before the rush of clients turned into a trickle and things became more relaxed.

After all clients were served we cleared the kitchen ready for the following day and set off back to Glasshouse for stretches.

We were off a tad early tonight as we had a meeting to attend at a new task location with new taskholders, before even doing our good deed!

Arriving in good time at Buckley Methodist Church in a new part of Barnsley where we never usually venture, we met the familiar faces of Tall Peter and his Grandson Jack. They were meant to be introducing us to a fellow from the church who had some tasks in mind for us to complete as Community Missions in future. Unfortunately the meeting had slipped the guys mind so Peter got on the blower to the fellas wife who promptly sent him on his way to meet us.

In the mean time GoodGym made themselves useful.... of course... no sitting still for us!. We ran around the nearby streets in the obligatory pink BCDP vests in loops (so as to keep checking whether the guy who we were meant to be meeting had arrived yet) looking for homeless people to direct to the church to receive a hot drink and snap bag. People requiring directions were few and far between though, most folk requiring the churches services already knew the way. There were just a couple who needed telling where exactly to go.

After a few loops it was time for our meeting. We met with Steve and his pal who we had a chat with about what it was possible for us to do for them and when. He then showed us what needed doing. The garden out back had become massively overgrown with thorny bushes which Steve was unable to tackle by himself due to health issues. It was decided that with another chaps help, who would bring us a strimmer and an extra pair of hands, that a weekend date would be arranged in the near future, with possibilities of coming back for other tasks too. Yay!!!! Numbers were exchanged with everyone in attendance for future fabulously fun frolics.

A very productive evening for GoodGym Barnsley! Just in time for a new member starting soon too! Things are on the up!