Bill hasn’t returned to his volunteering yet after the Christmas break. The good news is that Henry has, along with Sid, Neil and Gordon. I was especially pleased to see (and hear, because you hear him often before you see him) Gordon. He was smiling. That was all I needed to know. He survived his first Christmas alone in a new flat. But Bill hasn’t returned. Bill has given us instructions for times when he doesn’t appear. “Text before you phone and if neither of those work, then you can knock at my door.”
Bill will return. We can do texts, phone calls and visits and we will. And when he does return, he will repay our investment with interest. Not only is he a greater worker, he adds joy to our team. And if you speak to some of those who, like him, have experienced homelessness, they will tell you about the support he gives them. He is a gem.
Actually, that’s official. He is a gem. Research into people who are in recovery from alcohol and drug addiction says that they do more to build social capital for others than people who have never struggled with addiction. The Bill’s of this world are good for us all.
That idea of ‘social capital’ sounds a bit confusing and government speak but all we are talking about are the things that help people to join in and to feel part of something. They are things that tackle loneliness and isolation, things that help us to be and feel more human because they help us to move away from being by ourselves.
Volunteering at the Archer Project is social capital. Without it Gordon might not have been smiling yesterday. Without it Sid doesn’t know where he’d be. When I asked him, he shook his head and looked thoughtful, “I wouldn’t like to think what I’d be doing.” Then he smiled and looked around the kitchen team and said, “Should I give him a load of cliches?” The team laughed and in the laughter was the response I wanted. They are a team. They support and know each other. They can see when someone is struggling and needs help.
But day by day they have built a place they want to belong to. In time all of them will move on to better things and people new to recovery will join and take their place. Ultimately social capital is all about the value of good relationships and trust between people – it helps people work together, solve problems, and thrive, something we are lucky to see in action everyday here at the project.
