Debbie said she now “has the future to look forward to” and the people she is around keep her going
A woman who once slept in a shed with her dog Cruella said she is now “getting there bit by bit.” Debbie Melling is one of the hundreds of people who have been helped by YMCA Wirral over the past year. The Wirral branch of the organisation, which stands for Young Men’s Christian Association, is one of many around the world and has been formally based in Birkenhead since 1974.
The YMCA celebrated 150 years on the Wirral and was also recently awarded the Freedom of the Borough by Wirral Council in recognition of the work it does to support people who live on the streets or have no home to go to, as well as those who who struggle with drug and alcohol addiction. The award was given unanimously with praise across the council.
Staff said over the 150 years the organization had “adapted to what was needed in the community” and continues to do so today. For some clients, staff said they will sometimes be the only ones attending funerals, offering a lifeline to people who “may feel like they are second-class citizens.”
READ MORE: The council rejects plans for M&S as it would be a ‘direct threat’ to the town center marketREAD MORE: ‘Frustrated’ families let down by ‘poor’ council service ‘for too long’
Debbie has been at the YMCA for several months living with her spaniel Cruella. After more than 30 years with drugs, she said the organization gave her a way out. She said: “I didn’t have to do it anymore. I was on the street for three weeks. It’s terrible, but it was hard enough.”
At one point she slept in a shed. She said: “People would walk past you and look at you like you were nothing, but there were a lot of good people. People would bring her (Cruella) a coat or food. It wasn’t about the money. It was just as long as she was okay.
“A lot of people were so good, but others would say ‘get a job.’ I can’t get a job if I have nowhere to live. Some people turn their noses up at you.”
After arriving at the YMCA, Debbie settled in quickly and has since put on two stone, something she said “sounds silly, but it’s a lot for me.” She added: “It’s changed my life so much. It keeps me going. Cruella loves everyone. I can’t say thank you enough. I don’t know why people don’t appreciate it [the YMCA] more than they do. If you want help, it’s here.
“I have the future to look forward to, for me and Cruella big time. They have turned everything around for me. If I wasn’t here, if this wasn’t here, I wouldn’t have known where to start.”
The YMCA, which is based on Whetstone Lane in Birkenhead, offers 86 beds for those facing homelessness, with 20 emergency places for accommodation in extreme weather. During 2023, it helped almost 700 people.
However, the organization says it faces a challenging job these days, with affordable housing available on low waiting lists for diagnoses like ADHD closing, complex health issues among clients, and pressures to help asylum seekers and prisoners released early from prison. Clients like Debbie who are ready to move on are also stuck as some social landlords are reportedly hesitant to offer a place to someone who is homeless or with a dog.
Andy Topping now works as a support worker but was once a client at the YMCA where he went into rehab after 18 years on drugs. He said: “When I came out, I actually said I’m clean. For the first time in 18 years, I thought, what do I do now? So I came back to the place that helped me get clean. I felt me lost i knew i could come home to what is my family.
“Through my own experience, we also get to know these customers. These clients have gone from hostel to hostel to prison to prison and from prison to hostel. It tries to determine why this happens. What’s driving it and finding a way to break the cycle.”
Despite the work they do to help people, staff said some people give them a bad name. They even struggled to order a takeaway to the address of the hostel.
Katie Sherry, who works as a mental health team leader, said: “Sometimes our neighbors don’t write nice things about us on social media, but if we weren’t here, imagine what the streets would be like.
“Before I worked here, I had no idea about the complex problems that the homeless bring. We are only one paycheck away from homelessness. You literally see this. People can’t afford rent, so they come here. Their mental health declines and they then start abusing drugs.”
The YMCA expects to see additional demand with a lot of new clients being released early from prison. The government announced emergency measures in July to tackle prison overcrowding, and some eligible prisoners are being released.
Annie Johnson said she was told between 70 and 100 people could come back to Wirral with nowhere to go. Without the right support, staff questioned whether people were given the chance to start again after prison.
Support manager Peter Cookson said: “I’m sure the prison service feels the same way. They’re full. Where do they put people? They don’t even get the chance to rehabilitate in prison. If you have a chronic drug problem, where else are you going to go? “
Nigel Hughes, the YMCA’s chief executive, said some of its clients were fantastic people and praised staff for tackling “really serious complex problems” every day. He said: “The vast majority are here through no fault of their own. They are human beings. People forget that there are no tins of beans on the supermarket shelf. They are human beings.
“We do it because we care and we want to make a difference. There’s a lot that the YMCA does behind the scenes. We could shout from the rooftops, but we just go ahead and do it.
“For me, people are the community. We’ve always always had a real passion for trying to do the right things in Wirral, make it a better place, a safe place to live. It’s so much that just makes that difference, and if everyone got it, I think maybe it would be a much happier and nicer and kinder world to live in.”