Stories from St Martin's
Post categories: St Martin's, appeal, charity, homeless
11:08, Thursday, 3 December 2009
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At 0800 every day (0900 on Saturday) you'll find a small group of people at morning prayer in the church of St Martin-in-the-Fields at Charing Cross.
Amongst the worshippers you'll see homeless men and women from The Connection at St Martin's, an independent homeless charity operating on the site of St Martin-in-the-Fields Church. They offer practical advice, care and support to homeless people from all over the country, of all ages and all walks of life. This year alone over 5,000 homeless people accessed their services.
The poem in the slideshow above was written by Jamie, a young homeless man who's a member of The Connection's writing group.
And in this recording, you'll hear the Vicar of St Martin's talking about his preparation for the annual appeal and how he turns to the regulars at morning prayer for stories to use in the appeal programme itself - like Ben the gambler and the silent, angry man who can't bring himself to talk to anyone:
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Sally Flatman is Producer of the BBC Radio 4 St Martin-in-the-Fields Christmas Appeal
- Make a donation to the BBC Radio 4 St Martin-in-the-Fields Christmas Appeal, supporting work with homeless and vulnerable people across the UK.
- Listen to the 83rd Annual BBC Radio 4 St Martin-in-the-Fields Christmas Appeal this Sunday at 0755. Later that morning Libby Purves reports on how the money from last year's Christmas Appeal has been spent in Received with Thanks at 0945.
- More information at the St Martin's web site and The Connection at St Martin-in-the-Fields web site.
- Click the 'embed' button on the slideshow or the Vicar's audio to put them on your own web site. The slideshow is also on YouTube. Read the text of the recording.
- The Radio 4 appeal has a Wikipedia entry, which also covers the Christmas appeal.
Comment number 1.
At 09:06 4th Dec 2009, apm1 wrote:this is terrific; many congratulations to all concerned, and especially to Jamie. The poem is very touching, and reminds us how poetry itself belongs in life....
Andrew Motion
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Comment number 2.
At 12:49 4th Dec 2009, jclaxton wrote:This appeal is great. Of the several charities that I support, it's this one that makes me well up the most. The needs are so real. And the help given is so immediate. May this year's appeal be a great success.
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Comment number 3.
At 13:46 4th Dec 2009, sheila hancock wrote:Jamies poem is touching and very positive.Like St Martins really. hope the appeal is a great success
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Comment number 4.
At 14:12 4th Dec 2009, PhilBurman wrote:Excellent, such an honest and touching poem. As always one of the worthiest of appeals, good luck with this years broadcast.
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Comment number 5.
At 14:23 4th Dec 2009, crystalamp wrote:It's so good to read these positive comments. I will be passing them on to the creative writing group. Andrew and Sheila would be very welcome to visit. The money raised really does support all our work here at The Connection at St Martin's.
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Comment number 6.
At 19:05 4th Dec 2009, Ian Gilchrist wrote:This poem and the blog gets to the heart of the work with the homeless at St Martin's. I will be forwarding the link to this webpage to my contacts and friends
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Comment number 7.
At 11:25 6th Dec 2009, ProfDixieD wrote:I’m 73, heard the St Martin’s Appeal today and remembered: 20 years ago my daughter embezzled all of my money and left me sleeping in Birmingham’s Moseley Gardens. We haven’t spoken since. I too knew despair and the bottle but a lifeline fell and up I climbed
Much has happened since. I lead a strong charitable campaign, write poetry and stories (one a newspaper prize winner), and next year will find my own modest home - modest, but secure
So I’ve made a donation and offer my motto for those in St Martin’s: Keep your tails up guys!
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Comment number 8.
At 21:59 6th Dec 2009, gp1 wrote:Great to be able to listen to the excellent appeal here, as I could not hear the radio broadcast. And the poem is terrific. Best wishes with the appeal, which I expect will be a roaring success...
Geoff Pyle
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Comment number 9.
At 10:36 7th Dec 2009, Simon Wethered wrote:Just a note to thank Sally Flatman, Libby Purves and indeed the whole team at the BBC for the sheer professionalism and enthusiasm they bring to our historic collaboration over this Christmas Appeal. The results in the past have been little short of miraculous; we hope and pray for a similarly overwhelmingly generous response this year too, for the need is as great as ever.
Best wishes,
Simon Wethered
Chairman
St Martin-in-the-Fields Christmas Appeal Charity
(Reg charity no. 261359)
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Comment number 10.
At 15:21 7th Dec 2009, Mathew Hill wrote:I know at first hand the excellent work that the St Martin's appeal enables and the real difference that their work makes to peoples lives. It's great to see it being given such a high profile in this way!
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Comment number 11.
At 09:28 8th Dec 2009, Anne P wrote:The link for donations from this page gives a 404 error - I went to the Radio 4 Appeal site instead.
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Comment number 12.
At 22:48 8th Dec 2009, Steve Bowbrick wrote:Apologies if you've been clicking the donations link in Sally's blog post. I'm afraid the link to the St Martin's donations page was broken. I've fixed the link now, so please click away! The page in question is here: www.smitf.org/christmas.
Steve Bowbrick, editor, Radio 4 blog
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Comment number 13.
At 17:24 10th Dec 2009, Margot wrote:I found the programme extremely moving, especially the poem. Thanks so much for all the wonderful work.
But the phone number and address for donations were given out so fast I didn't get either down correctly, even though I had pencil and paper ready.
Thanks to the internet I've now tracked it down, but others, older people might not have managed that.
All best wishes for a merry midwinter
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