During the summer of 2021 one of our volunteers was standing at their post, welcoming guests, making sure the queue was kept safe and letting people through, a few at a time, to collect their meal packs. While chatting to the guests, one of them turned to the volunteer and said, “Your energy here is great! What you do is fantastic.” The volunteer felt really lifted and encouraged and thanked the guest for that. He explained, “What you have just said means a lot. All we are trying to do is encourage, love and welcome people, and with the friends that we have, help people out of situations they don’t want to be in.” The guest then replied, “Absolutely! It’s because of your friends at Platfform and you providing me with the opportunity to speak to them on site, that I am now housed and have got my own place. I was sleeping rough before that, and I just want to say thank you. I love it here!”
This just goes to show that it’s good to have friends, it’s good to network; it always has been. Swansea as a city has recognised that we really are stronger together. With the hospitality, the welcome and the energy that we share at Matthew’s House, we can connect people who truly trust us with our friends who have the professional skills and expertise to do things we are often unable to, and therefore give them hope. This is a great story of all round encouragement for our volunteers, support services and guests. Together we have enabled this guest to get out of a bad situation and into a place where they can look forward to a brighter future ahead.