Our intrepid team of five set out on a wild and windy night onto the streets of Lichfield. The sparkling lights beckoned though and plenty of people were intent on having a good time on the last Saturday before Christmas.
We decided to set out our table on the corner, encouraged by previous reports of the footfall past Betsy’s Little Dessert Shop. However this proved unhelpful to us as some very strong gusts of wind made serving the hot tea and coffee and chatting somewhat challenging. We were accompanied this night by Grace who is the Lichfield District Council Project Support Officer plus her colleague. Grace was eager to see what the work of the LNL volunteers looked like as the Late Night Listeners were one of a number of groups, organisations and agencies involved with the City of Lichfield obtaining Purple Flag status (an accreditation for 'Excellence in the Evening and Night-Time Economy') awarded in November.
The decision was made to return to our usual spot taking advantage of the council’s excellent repairs around the base of two adjacent mature trees The uneven and root-damaged paving stones having been replaced by a smooth tarmac presented much less of a challenge to some of the stiletto-heeled ladies.
We then had a steady stream of visitors, some of whom knew us well and others who had never seen us before. There seemed to be only one homeless regular out that night who’d set up on a corner opposite Boots. He didn’t seem to mind the cold, he just didn't like the dazzling lights of passing cars. He had made a shelter in some woods nearby. He didn’t want a hot drink and asked if we didn’t mind, after a while, as he had to ring his son.
There were no major incidents but one unsteady lady was grateful for a seat and pair of flip-flops, saying she hadn’t been out for over a year. We exchanged reports on the night with three policemen as 'Carollers' round the corner belted out a familiar tune. As the night grew on, it became really cold and we were grateful for Bobbie’s chips as 1am approached.
Just as we were about to leave one young lady managed a tipsy flip onto her backside but fortunately no damage was done and she had a young man to help her to the waiting taxi.