Badenoch pilgrim is off again to walk for the homeless
Will Carey has already walked more miles on gruelling Canterbury pilgrimages than his feet care to remember but they’re just going to have to, he’s decided!
The Newtonmore pilgrimage stalwart is off again to the south for another four-day epic walk to the famous cathedral, joining the St Martin’s Pilgrimage in the name of housing the homeless.
Over the May Bank Holiday from Friday to Monday, he will be joining 100 others at London’s St Martin-in-the-Fields heading to Canterbury:
He explained: “A long time ago, in a gap away from teaching, I landed a nine-month job at St Martin’s Social Care Unit, running a day centre for the homeless underground in the Crypt.
“I met many memorable characters, destructive sometimes, sometimes self-destructive, homeless and sleep-starved on the cold, lonely, scary Streets of London.
“Many then were Scots. Many now are asylum-seekers.Very often, just one or two pillars of their life had collapsed: their family roots, their marriage, their job – something that could happen to any one of us.
“So many people, from so many different backgrounds. Edward from Eton as well as Michael from Ayrshire, Sidney with the whisky bottle smuggled in down his trouser-leg, until it rolled out on to the floor.
“William, a librarian who’d had a breakdown. Robert, a gentle English scholar, an expert on the British canal network who’d walked most of it.
“‘Angel’..some angel! He put bricks through his boss’ bedroom window at night. Years later he turned up, out of the blue, on crutches, all smiling, to bum a fiver off my mum-in-law at St Martin’s!
“Each memorable, each a human being, sometimes extraordinarily resilient, yet sadly homeless and sleeping rough.
“The homeless numbers rocketed, only falling over Covid when the government sensibly enabled them to go into vacant hotels. With that relative stability, qualified staff were able to gain their trust andwork on some of their long-term needs.
“Now, many have been tipped back on the streets again, with more and more folk becoming homeless because of the cost of living crisis.
“The care unit I worked on became The Connection at St Martin-in-the-Fields. It now deals with thousands each year, and specialises in those with particularly deep-seated needs.
“So our Pilgrimage aims to raise some £50,000 each year to help The Connection.
"Whilst working there 40 years ago, I met a lovely and remarkable man, Roger, on the staff. He became a dear friend. He worked at St Martin’s for over 40 years. For many homeless, rootless folk, Roger has been one of the few, sometimes the only, constant friend in their lives."
Roger and his wife Kath envisioned the Pilgrimage, partly to bring together, in a purposeful, merry challenge, the very diverse and often quarrelling parts of St Martin’s. Like all institutions, it has its rivalries and clashes...
Will told how the Canterbury tale began:
"It was 33 years ago, in 1990, that their first Pilgrimage set off. Every year now, very like Chaucer’s pilgrims, we are a cavalcade of very varied people: a monk, a lawyer, an environmentalist, the odd Bishop and actress, a pavement artist, a wee band of asylum-seekers brilliantly welcomed and bonded by Sunday soup and drama sessions in the Church.
"Some homeless, some ex-homeless like Peter. Peter had been a flower-seller outside St Martin’s, sleeping on the street. He joined the very first Pilgrimage in 1990 and has done every single one since, sometimes with a wee dog, and has now been secure in a flat for years.
"The whole motley band tramps down the 74 miles, or whatever each can manage, down to Canterbury,in groups of about 10, some in the FAST group vying to get to each nightly stop first, one guy usually in a Superman outfit. Some in the very slow group, “the STEADY group”.
"Many sleep in a church or a school hall, or in a tent in the graveyard. A few in B&B’s.
"There is much merriment on the way. Much slog too. Many are not experienced walkers. Podiatrists volunteer blessed help for tired feet. One well-meaning “helper” brought a basin of supposedly warm water to soothe a young woman’s painful blisters. As she eased her feet gratefully into the basin, she yelped..it was scalding. (She later told me the Pilgrimage was one of the best experiences of her life!)
"And you probably don’t find everyone easy...or they you. The first night, weary after 18 miles’ tramp along the concrete pavements of London out into the greener outskirts, the Swanley Church reverberates with 70 snorers, and has a whiff of smelly feet. Then in the morning queuing for just two loos, then breakfast outside, all before 8a.m. That can have its tensions as well as its camaraderie.
"But, after many miles through green fields and across lovely bridges over rivers, reaching Canterbury and processing up to the thanksgiving Service in the Crypt of the majestic Cathedral is a hugely moving moment, weary-relieved-triumphant pilgrims united together. Then we process out through the cloisters on to the green below the tower, in the ebbing evening light, to lay flowers on the grave of Dick Sheppard.
"Dick, as Vicar of St Martin’s during the First World War, opened up the church and crypt at night to the troops passing through London, many dreading what they were to face in the trenches, many traumatised on their return.
"High above, in the Cathedral Tower, sometimes screech the nesting peregrines. And what does 'peregrinus' mean? PILGRIM!"
Strathy readers can support Will through this link to his justgiving page.
