Bucks Free Press reporter, Stephanie Wareham, spent an evening with a team of dedicated volunteers for Wycombe Homeless Connection, who are committed to helping High Wycombe’s rough sleepers.

PlugIn at the Hub is a weekly Wycombe Homeless Connection activity on a Thursday, which aims to support those who are sleeping rough.

And many of their guests do not have far to travel for the service, at the Union Baptist Church – around five of those who visit the centre on a regular basis sleep in Easton Street car park next door.

The service, run by a team of five volunteers along with a shift leader between April and December, gives those sleeping rough a chance to have a hot meal, a shower and wash their clothes one evening a week.

After a quick briefing, the volunteers are each given tasks – including preparing a dinner of spaghetti and toast, manning the washing machine and guarding the front door. A table is set out with games of Jenga and Chess and another is stacked with biscuits, cake and tea.

“But the primary thing is to show compassion. You quite often find that our guests don’t get to speak to anyone during the day, so they can come here just to have a normal conversation,” said Dipen Parekh, who has been a volunteer for four years.  

“Even just chatting with someone is a way to put their mind in a good place sometimes. It is so worthwhile.

“You build a rapport with them and you end up looking forward to your shift. You get to make jokes and chat and you are helping people in any little way that you can.”

There are estimated to be between 30 and 40 people sleeping on the streets of High Wycombe and in November, Wycombe Homeless Connection saw an all-time record number of visits to their Castle Street Support Centre, with an average of 15.9 visits each day – up almost 50 per cent on the same month last year.

James*, who has been homeless for around 13 months after losing his job and getting into rent arrears, said many rough sleepers face a “catch-22 situation” when trying to get off the streets.

He said: “The Old Tea Warehouse is one of the main places you’re likely to get housed in High Wycombe.

“If you go into full-time work you have to pay full rent of £220 a week there, but we have been homeless – we aren’t going to go straight a top notch job and it becomes unaffordable.

“People like us just can’t afford that and it’s hard to see a way forward. I want to go back to work but I need to get a roof over my head first.

“There are lots of new expensive apartment buildings going up in High Wycombe but they’re not going to go to people like us.”

James* also revealed the harsh realities of life on the streets, including being “permanently drained.”

He said: “Most of us sleep in car parks. You get woken up early and told to move on and some are more polite than others. Some are respectful and understand but others will literally kick you.

“There are other issues we have to face, where people have tried to take their own lives. Personally, we have stopped people from jumping – it’s awful.”

Craig*, a former plumber who found himself on the streets and sleeping in a car park after returning to High Wycombe following a nine month break from the area, agreed that rough sleepers face issues that others do not consider. 

He said: “The council close the public toilets at night which doesn’t help, I think they are worried about people using drugs.

“But if you want to go to the toilet in the middle of the night, you can’t. Locking a toilet up at night isn’t going to stop people taking drugs, they will just do it elsewhere.”

He also finds the hours between 4pm and 7pm the most difficult, calling it his “twilight zone.”

He said: That’s when you see people with their agendas – they’re going home from work, or going shopping, and I'm just sitting in McDonalds.

“It’s too early to settle down for the night, instead I'm just watching people as they live their lives.”

The PlugIn service provides a lifeline for many of the town’s rough sleepers in the months when the Winter Night Shelter – which is run by an army of more than 300 volunteers - is not operating.

Craig* said: “I've been coming to PlugIn for about five or six months. I come here every week to wash my clothes. Without the services they provide we would be a lot worse off. It is appreciated and needed and very helpful.”

Mark Dykes, a trustee at the charity, added: “The difference between having this service for one night a week and not having it at all is huge. People who are sleeping rough do not get a lot of positive interaction, so speaking to them like a human being is important.

“We like to be positive about the situation. We try to give help and support. And the community support for this venture is absolutely staggering.”

*Names have been changed to protect identities.