Paul has looked forward to Christmas Day for several weeks. ‘Every morning I have to roll up my sleeping bag and carry it around the back, as the manager of the Boots doorway I sleep in doesn’t like me lying there when the customers arrive,’ said Mr Roper. ‘But on Christmas Day, I get a lie in,’ he enthused.
Margaret agrees Christmas is a great time if you’re poor and hungry. ‘People pop nice treats in for the food bank – I had a bag of Quinoa the other day. Was I the envy of the rough sleepers under the railway arches,’ she said, pulling an Army greatcoat around her. ‘Probably tastes better cooked,’ she added.
Not every rough sleeper is as enthusiastic about the festive season. Mike was very forthright about the subject. ‘Don’t like Turkey,’ he snarled. ‘Which is why I would have voted to leave if I’d had a vote,’ he said, pulling cardboard boxes back over him. ‘Now bugger off, I’m trying to imagine what the Queen is going to say later,’ he added.