Speech for Fundraising Coffee Morning at The Good Shepherd, August 2025
Written and delivered by John: Experience Leader, Experience Cambridge CIC
Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, church leaders and officials, and members of the choir.
I would like to start by reading all of you a speech I prepared a little earlier in the week.
It's called "Imagine if..."
Imagine if... you come home after a long day of work only to find no water for a shower; well, this is how homeless people feel everyday: not knowing whether they are going to have a shower or not;
Imagine if... you come home after visiting friends and there is no food in the fridge or the pantry and you have no way of getting something to eat; well, this is how homeless people feel when a community meal is unavailable or cancelled.
Imagine if... when getting out of your car or being dropped off by the bus at the bus stop, you realise you forgot your umbrella or parka, and you get drenched and soaked from the rain; well, this is how homeless people feel - constantly exposed to the weather conditions.
Imagine if... you wanted to use your toilet and it was broken, and, the only other toilet available at the time charged you 20P and was not guaranteed to unlock or open, or worse, was permanently closed; well this is what has happened to the homeless.
Imagine if... somebody accidentally bumped into you on the street and spilt their tea/coffee or soup onto your only articles of clothing, such as your shirt, jeans or dress; that you could not clean; well, this is a constant risk that homeless people face...
Imagine if... where you slept was infested by rodents or vermin and your only shelter was getting chewed on... ...OR worse... Well, this is one reason why homeless people refuse or decline some housing offers....
Imagine if your senses were constantly on edge because of the threats all around you, and all you wanted was a good night’s sleep....well, this is how homeless people feel most nights...
Imagine if... you had a poor night's sleep, were irritable from the three previous nights' lack of sleep, and, had nowhere to rest for only an hour... well, you guessed it - this is how homeless people are made to constantly feel...
And, imagine if... after being sleep deprived, you had to focus and read through a policy document or listen to a support worker explaining the limits of your current situation. Or worse, you had to make a key decision about your circumstances...
...perhaps, you can barely keep your eyes open, forget about remembering or recalling critical information....
By now, I think you can form a general picture of how homeless people continuously feel...
Now, I would like you all to imagine a place that offers…
-daily showers
-two meals per day
-temporary warmth and shelter from the rain, even if, only for a little while...
-two working toilets to freely use
-a place to wash your laundry and dirty articles of clothing
-a temporary space free and safe from the gnawing jaws of rodents and vermin
-a relatively safe space to rest without fear of continuous external threats
-where homeless people can temporarily rest and recuperate, giving them a little more time to re-focus and clarify their thoughts... helping them to properly understand and make decisions with respect to their current situation...
This is what Wintercomfort is for many homeless people.
Each of us standing here today has experienced one or more of the scenarios that I just described.
And Wintercomfort has provided.
So, we would like to request, that if you can, to please spare a small contribution to help with continuing support for Wintercomfort. Every small financial contribution helps keep Wintercomfort’s doors open and hearts warm.
In return, with the wonderful leadership and coordination of our homeless vicar Kristian and our master baker Paula, we have prepared some lovely butterfly cakes, colourful rainbow biscuits, apricot jam tarts, and delectable gluten-free, vegan chocolate cake slices for you to enjoy with your tea and coffee after the service.
On behalf of our team, we would like to thank you for your attention today.