Author: Linda Bridges

The Hazel Project was started in 2015, God gave me the vision to visit and spend time with the people on the streets begging in Southampton, and to spend time with them. 

I felt God wanted us to show them true friendship, respect and also hope for a better future. 

We started very small, and we are still only a few committed Christians who have a passion to show love to the guys and girls from the street community by spending time with them, sharing food and drink and being a listening ear.

We had been running for about three years and we were really building up friendships, but I was feeling frustrated as it had become apparent to us how addiction plays such a huge role in homelessness, along with mental health problems and others issues. The only way someone could recover it seemed was through the local drug and alcohol team, and whilst they were doing their best they wanted people to get well in the community, and we could see this was an incredibly difficult thing to achieve and many people were failing, and then going around the cycle again, each time losing hope in ever getting into sustained recovery.

I had been praying for a way forward to help, but did not have any real idea how that could happen and what it would be.  I attended a meeting of ISAAC members at Victory Gospel Church in Southampton, it must have been 2018, and there I joined others chatting about what each of us did, and then praying and worshiping together.  When describing our work, I shared how frustrated I was about the whole recovery situation, and that I could not see a way forward for so many of the people living on the streets or part of the street community. People who struggled so badly with addiction as well as all the other chaos which comes from that lifestyle and years of neglect and abuse. 

What happened next was a surprise!

It was good to share this, but I did not expect what was to happen next.

At the end of the meeting a man, who I now know Tref, came up and said he had been really interested in what I had said. He was from Yeldall Manor, a residential Christian recovery centre whose programme lasted for at least six months, and sometimes longer if housing was an issue for the client.  He asked us as a team to come and visit, learn more about what they do, and that if I could find suitable clients from the
people we were serving then they would offer them places, I was so happy!!  It did feel like a God moment, and I left the meeting full of the Holy Spirit and hope for the future of our street friends. who we saw suffering so much each day.

Five of us travelled to Yeldall Manor, not knowing really what we were going to see or who we would meet.  We arrived there and we drove down this beautiful driveway that is surrounded by the most beautiful huge trees, parking in front of the manor, a house that looks grand and imposing.

We were met and taken into this beautiful room with stained glass windows, comfy big settees and a cross on the largest window.  We then met Chris Wood for the first time (now a dear friend). He showed us around, and talked us through the programme and what they looked for in a client who would be able to apply.  What struck me the most was that everyone ate together at lunchtime, from staff to the newest client on their first day, and also how open and friendly each person was , all being in different stages of the programme.  Their honesty and openness about what they had experienced in life, how they were feeling that day, and what they hoped for in the future was just incredible.

I felt this is a very special Godly place which we want to get involved with!

Tref was able to spend some time with us that day, asking more about our operation and how we could possibly work together in the future. We all left there feeling so excited about Yeldall Manor and all it offered, but also we felt we had all been touched by a very special place which had God at the centre and love in the programme, so crucial!!

Not long after we had our first friends go to be interviewed and admitted to the programme. The Hazel Project has grown, becoming a registered charity, working in Southampton, building relationships with Street pastors, police and other agencies working with the street community. We have had seven people go to Yeldall since then, and been privileged to watch as some have found true freedom from their addictions, but also sadness as two have since relapsed and passed away.  Even those precious friends we have lost were blessed, they met Jesus, were shown real love, and I know they are in heaven now.  Yeldall, simply gave them the break from drugs and alcohol and the brain space to explore the bigger questions of life.

Who are they really? What formed them? Who is God and Will they follow Jesus? 

As one friend, said to me ” Linda, I will die knowing Jesus now, isn’t this the most precious thing to be given, faith and hope in eternity?”

We are now fundraising for more of our street friends to have the opportunity to go to Yeldall Manor.  It is a great programme, offering counselling which I do think is key to recovery. All this comes at a cost, and is not getting the funding it needs from the government to help all those people who so badly need this support.  We have also had addiction training from ISAAC member Pat Prosser.  This training has
been excellent, and learnt so much from his experience and teaching. He has helped us so, so much, we thank God for his ministry and how he has supported us through some tricky situations too.  We have had
staff from Yeldall Manor come on outreach with us, also spending the day on the streets of Southampton with us and meeting our street friends.  We now have one of our volunteers working at Yeldall, voluntarily doing maintenance but also supporting the clients there with real compassion and a confidential listening ear. The fact that he now sees people from the streets, through Yeldall and then hopefully on to sustained recovery is amazing!  He has caught the Yeldall Manor bug too, and the place is part of his story and in his heart.

I do feel very privileged and honoured to have the links we have, and I thank God for that great day when I shared my frustrations to a room full of strangers but who all saw and felt the struggle and battles people face with addiction in their lives.

I am excited about the future! 

Thank you,

Linda Bridges

Team Leader The Hazel Project