Late Night Listeners Report, Saturday June 22
The signs of the potential start of the Summer were very favourable as our team of five plus one (a long story) made the life-changing decision of choosing to wear just our lightweight, Day-Glo... er, I mean.. Hi Viz tabards.
As we made our way to our regular set up point, the active busy nightlife we stepped into would prove to be the cultural representation of the night. A couple of our regular homeless guys were around and at some point came and had tea and multiple biscuits and the odd pair of flip flops were dispensed (not to the homeless guys!)
We seemed to have more than our regular amount of inquisitive people stopping by to ask the now almost familiar question of '"What's this all about, then?".
It's always a good feeling to be able to tell them that we are a mainly faith-based group coming from a variety of denominations from churches in and around the City with the one objective of serving and helping our local community via the night time economy.
Speaking of faith, it turned out to be a bit of a theme as we had a young lady who attended a church in Walsall who was a bit overcome by what we were doing and insisted on praying with and for a couple of our team, there and then! (to be honest, she had had a bit to drink so was quite wordy in her praying) garnering some interesting comments from those around.
Whilst this was going on, a man, who had also had a few, was at our table having a coffee and was clearly out this evening to 'eye up' and to chat up the ladies. He told us he was a farmer from Burntwood and regaled us with some of the things he undertook in that role.
Later another young couple came over and the man began to tell us that he was brought up in the Christian faith and that his mum went to a church one of our team attended. It was refreshing to hear a young person's views on the relevance and significance of having a faith.
It was also the night of an almost 'Blood Moon'... resulting in the, now normal activity, of people taking photos on their phones!
The City seemed to be a busy one for almost all of our shift...and as it drew to a close for us, the glorious Bobby turned up with a big box of chips for sharing. He also told us that on the Saturday nights we are not out, he gets people asking where we are....it's so humbling for us to be acknowledged for our presence.
Subject: Report for Late Night Listeners 27.07.2024
It was one of the mildest of Summer nights so far that called for hi-viz tabards instead of the big coats. Unfortunately, due to some miscommunication on my part, we were one team member down (with them being part of a Choir on tour and in Germany this particular evening!). So we were a tad limited on being able to send pairs out walking around the centre of the City, which was probably just as well as the emptying out of Beacon Park that had played host to a Festival of Tribute Bands meant a heck of lot of people passing through the town (fold up chairs in hands). For the majority of the people coming home, it was a nice friendly, and good humoured vibe.
We did have a lovely younger couple stop by our table and 'raved' a little about what we all did. As they stood there chatting, having just purchased some pizza etc, another guy in customary festival bucket hat came over asking why they had not bought him any food. We all thought this was someone they knew as they both engaged in conversation with him. As it turned out he was a complete stranger and his clear drunken demeanour turned to one of underlying menace as he accused them of being 'robbers' and stealing his wallet. Things moved up a gear or two in its intensity until a friend of the guy in the bucket hat came over and forcibly wrested him away to come and sit with him on the bench opposite. This he did whilst continued to jibe and antagonise the couple with gestures and comments...thankfully our nice couple were doing their best to ignore him, though the young man was quite prepared to have it 'out with him' but was tempered by his partner not to rise to the bait... such a shame drink can bring out the worst in people even after a nice evening out.
We did however have another rather genial young man who lived in the Isle of Man (I know, a long way to Lichfield for a party...right?). It turned out that his friend, a Lichfield citizen, had turned 30 and it was big party time. As he asked questions as to who we were and what we were doing he went on to explain that his mum was a Reverend in a church on the IoM and she was often coercing him to help out with the local food bank. Him being a 'confirmed atheist', he had had to come to a compromise with his mum, that he helped out as long as she did not try to constantly get him to come to church on a Sunday!!
We watched as the 'gentle giant' that is Bobby the Bouncer for the Millennium Chicken fast food place physically but firmly forced a rather large and very drunk man out of the shop sound tracked with a tirade of verbal abuse to someone still inside the shop. This big guy went on to a kebab shop over the road and we later heard a similar situation going on with the security staff there! How sad!
The City was super busy due to the Festival fall-out and that fall-out featured all ages and even families who ended up milling around the City centre well into Midnight. As an observation, we did observe a lack of police around, though they may have been situated in and around the Park for all we knew.
Chips came and were quickly digested as we came to the time to pack down.
Lichfield you were wonderful, thank you and goodnight!
Subject: Late Night Listeners report 10.08.24
Our lovely team assembled at Wade Street Church to haul out our equipment for the night. We loaded up the leader's car with the usual supplies and refreshments after a moment of prayer.
Glorious Lichfield was warm and busy, with the streets full of nice, friendly Lichfeldians and people from beyond. We knew we were going to have a steady stream of passers by tonight.
Unfortunately we were unable to set up camp at our usual pitch, the County Council having barriered the two large sycamore trees, due to root uplift. It may be a while before we get back there. However we found a suitable pitch in full view of the public, between Betsy's and Millennium chicken. We were back lit and ready for anything.
There was a Police carrier parked close to Walkabout, containing three jolly Police Officers. We introduced ourselves and they were very pleased to see us. There were also two Response patrols in the City throughout the time we were there. Officers are on twelve hour shifts, due to the riots and civil unrest.
We set off in pairs at regular intervals, all reporting that all pubs and bars were very busy. The only location that was oozing unrest was Walkabout. Every hostelry had door staff on duty.
We had a stream of people thanking us for what we do, some partaking in refreshments.
Just after 1100 hrs there were more drunken people around, with the fast food restaurants booming and the reliable taxi rank transporting people away.
It kicked off at Walkabout with the door staff fighting with a couple of aggressive customers.The situation calmed after a heavy Police presence.
We all noticed one or two men comatose through drink. The Police were excellent in the way they helped them.
A man attending a wedding at the Guildhall, brought us a box of excess lemon drizzle cake, which proved very popular with people stopping to chat.
At about 23.50, a couple of us witnessed a large fight outside Walkabout, which had started inside.The Police were at the scene, and as the Police do, waded in and quickly de-escalated the situation, which was very timely.
One has to commend the Police for protecting us all and carrying out their duties, fairly but firmly.
We suspect the Police will be looking at Walkabout's licence, if incidents like tonight become too regular.
We didn't have to issue any flip flops as the City passed by. All in all, most people were in fine fettle.
Hot chips arrived at midnight, thankyou Bobby and Millenium Chicken.
The team were engaging with people all night, and we knew that LNL on the streets was providing a vital service.
At 0100 hrs we packed up as the City was slowly emptying.
REPORT FOR LATE NIGHT LISTENERS 31/9/24
Tabards or Jackets? It's that time of the year when this becomes a significant question with regards to 'work' apparel. To be sure some of our 'infamous five' brought both - just in case!
Setting up was in our new chosen space, just forward of the Dessert shop between the two trees. This is proving quite novel (even revelationary) for the teams as we now have members of the public walking both behind and in front of our table.
There seemed to be a great spirit of generosity in the air this night with people giving us significant donations just to say thanks for what we all do as volunteers for the community. There were lots of encouraging conversations and engagements with people throughout the night.
We did a couple of flip flop encounters, which always draws overflowing praise and thanks from some very relieved ladies. We did our usual pat-strolls around the City square just to keep an eye on what else is going on at the various venues, keeping an eye out for folks in need or difficulties, keeping up 'speaking terms' relationships with door/security staff and answering the odd question or two. A young lady came across to our table to inform us that a homeless person she had got into conversation with had told her all he wanted was a place to stay and she wanted to know what we could do to help him. As it turned out we knew the homeless person in question and could inform the lady that (to our knowledge) they had been offered accommodation before but had not committed to stay in it. It is always a difficult issue that in many cases does not necessarily conclude with the person being house as the issues around their individual situations are often more complex .
Labour MP Dave Robertson stopped by to introduce himself and thank us for what we are doing. A brief chat with him resulted in him directing us to funding we could apply for (we need to cover the hire of radio/walkie talkie that puts us on the Night Time communication system that links us to other venues etc as well as pay for Public Liability Insurance).
As the end of our shift approached, Bobby, possibly the greatest security person in all Lichfield, turned up with a box of piping hot chips (why do they taste so wonderful at 1am in the morning?)...From then on it was pack-down and time to head back to base and eventually home and bed.
P.S. On the Thursday before LNL had been part of the Lichfield Community Day with a table in the Market Square where we had a number of folk interested in potentially being part of our volunteer group as well as us getting a photo taken with Staffordshire's own Olympic Gold Medalist, Sophie Capewell.
Subject: LNL report Sat 28th Sept 2024
Tonight's five person team had a quick update chat before leaving base camp for the 'wild' streets of ye olde City of Lichfield. There was much to update folk on, new volunteers coming on board, successful funding applications with Lichfield City Council and Staffordshire Community Foundation as well as Tesco's Community Champion, Charlotte securing us Tea, Coffee, biscuits, Hot Chocolate and more as a Tesco and LNL partnership is formed.
Anyways, it was time to head out and set up our table in a night time environment that was seemingly, a busy one! Two ladies sort of snuck up on us, one of them saying she was cold and picking up one of the team members hiviz jacket she put it put on (said team member had just gone to visit the loo in the Brewhouse and Kitchen). This young lady seemed to want to make up for her cheekiness by inviting us all to share her pizza (very nice) but told us it was a Margarita which actually turned out to be something spicy with slices of Jalapeno chillies on top (not nice!!). Her friend spent most of the time giggling and taking endless videos of her friend on her phone. We ended up with them discovering we had flip flops - and they both had high heels on so a transaction occurred and they eventually headed for the taxi rank relishing their ability to walk in flatties and no longer needing to totter on their heels.
A young man came to buy a coffee off us and was temporarily confused when we would have money off him...then he told us he thought we were some kind of mobile coffee shop! (which in some way, I suppose we are). A group of youngers came by and, realizing that all the tea and biscuits were free, proceeded to all have one and help themselves to biscuits, but they were so polite - despite one of them holding on tight to a small Vodka bottle - that we were somewhat charmed by their manners.
One of our team got asked by a rather drink-fuelled man if we were all 'into God 'n stuff'...this resulted in a conversation about spirituality, karma, church and his personal declaration of trying to be a good person. His, much less drink-fuelled, friend came over after a while and joined in the conversation in a very respectful manner. As a rule we generally endeavour not to get too drawn into conversations around religion with those who may have had a few too many.
A very friendly chap by the name of Adrian came by and stayed sometime at the table chatting about all sorts of things but especially displaying his knowledge of blues music and artists. He seemed a bit of a loner and was only too happy to chat to any of us who would listen and engage with him... and that is what we are about to be fair. There was a regular presence of Police throughout the night and even a couple on foot at one point.
Security man, Bobby sensed it was time for some chips and they duly arrived, piping hot and eagerly devoured by the team as we made moves to pack down and head back for home.
Subject: Late Night Listeners Report Saturday, 12th October 2024
The five of us gathered at Wade Street to be greeted with a very tidy storage cupboard. This made it a lot easier to find what we needed and organise ourselves, well done David WM!
We set up in a slightly different place due to safety barriers around the Plane trees. Fortunately it didn't rain as there was little cover in this location, but it did get colder as the evening progressed.
There was a distinct smell of a certain 'herbal' plant in the area originating from young lads on bikes. It makes one wonder if their parents know what they are doing or even care. The night brought a steady stream of visitors to the table and we were able to take turns walking the streets. Overall the night was reasonably busy with a lot of people seeming to be the worse for wear, unable to walk straight and verbally very loud for the most part, but surprisingly no flip flops were given out. We were able to take coffee and biscuits to one of our homeless friends who was being looked after by a small group of lads. Nice to see this community compassion.
Every now and then a police car would drive past to remind us they were not too far away.They did, however miss the one incident which left us all shocked.
It was an assault involving two females, one of which had driven into town to collect a group of drunk men. The driver of the car got out and pushed a nearby lady onto the ground. There were a lot of witnesses and the unfortunate victim was hastily escorted to a taxi. Thankfully this is one of the rare occasions when acts of aggression occur in the City nightlife. On lighter note one of our number went offering biscuits to the taxi drivers.
After our usual present of hot chips from Security Legend, Bobby we packed up a little after 1am and headed back to base.
Subject: Report for Sat 9th Nov 2025
Here at LNL HQ, we are always thankful for nights when it is not raining/snowing/freezing/cold winds blowing and tonight was one such night, despite it being almost mid November. Our team was a member down tonight which always limits our ability to undertake our regular 'perspective' patrols that allow us to say hi to those who are regularly employed or engaged in the night time economy of our wonderful City.
The team arrived and duly set up camp outside the almost, neon brashness of Betsy's Dessert shop on the corner of Bore Street and Bird Street. This repositioned spot seems to have given us a bigger profile as we seem to engage with quite a few more people throughout the night than we did when we were tucked up further back in the corner.
Our night began with a nice bunch of polite young lads, (it's interesting to note how nearly all the young people who approach us seem to be so polite - in some cases, much more than their elders!!). They were from out of town and were looking for a place that was not a pub but that did karaoke! Not being au faux with regular karaoke haunts ourselves, we couldn't really help them. A conversation was struck up that eventually came around to us having to guess their ages, as they seemed to take a pride in being mistaken for being younger than they looked and acted...teas, haribos and biscuits abounded whilst they dispensed their early 20's experiences and wisdom.
This was the first night with our new walkie talkie Radio, thanks to some funding from some of our wonderful local Councillors! "zero one, zero one, this is 75 signing on for the night - over?" ...and there we are, linked into the NITENET surveillance system.
Our two person patrols were brief and only covered very short distances as it was a busy night, peoplewise, and the team did not want anyone straying too far from base. On their short walk, two of our team witnessed a bit of an affray outside the Eden bar in Market Street where a rather aggressive man was apparently being encouraged to 'back off' by the security staff.
One young man came to our table seemingly a bit cynical as to our motives for being there but after some gentle engagement from one of our team, ended up in quite a lengthy conversation covering a range of topics from family to jobs...it was one of those where two ears were just not enough!!
Local BID person Paul, arrived at our table sporting a very expensive and designer looking handbag (not his usual night time apparel, he informs us). A lady had left it in a pub and it seemed to contain some important items including her passport and various cards. Paul was unsure where to leave it but eventually decided to leave it at the Kings Head pub should anyone come to us looking for a lost handbag.
The night seemed to present us with a number of more mature ladies in need of flip-flops...this is normally the remit of younger ladies, stepping out in heels resembling mini stilts and finding out as the night goes on that quantities of alcohol, pub-crawling and 4 inch heels are not an ideal concoction. We were happy to dispense and even help these more mature ladies into their 'beach wear', nearly always concluded with words along the lines of "ah thank you - you've no idea how better that feels"! - I think you will find that we do.
The other recurring theme of this night was people offering to buy us chips! We had to decline the kind offers as we knew that the ever 'bountiful Bobby' would be supplying us this culinary delicacy towards the end of our shift. As the night drew on there was a bit of a to-do with one of our homeless guys who had positioned himself between the Kebab shop and Walkabouts. He was clearly being incited by someone and was retaliating with loud verbal aggression. We considered approaching the situation but could see that shop security had got it covered and were endeavouring to calm the situation.
We realised that we had dispensed more than our usual amount of drinks throughout the night as the flasks were getting very low. The night concluded for us with a young lady enquiring as to whether or not she could volunteer with us... she was encouraged to have our card and give herself a wee bit of time to have a think about it and contact us - we do hope she responds in a positive way.
With our teams growing, we have plans to be out in December doing three Saturdays, 14th, 21st and 28th...so we might see some of you over the Christmas period...stay warm and cheerful!
LATE NIGHT LISTENERS - REPORT FOR 30TH NOVEMBER
We assembled at Wade Street Church, and kitted up to be out on the ground for 22.15 hrs. We were five in total. All brave and experienced souls.
We set up in our now usual location, between the trees, outside Millenium Chicken.
As it was mild and dry, and as it was 'pay day' weekend, the City was extra busy. Several ladies, much the worse for wear, seemed to be continually falling over the temporary fencing around the two large trees, which are due to be excavated. Most of this fencing had been knocked/or blown over and posed a definite health and safety risk.
We were serving hot drinks as soon as we had set up and within a few minutes, we were in receipt of a £15 donation, courtesy of two very kind men from Cannock. Our regular 'patrols' revealed that the George 1V pub was very busy and very noisy.
A couple of the team went on another patrol, equipped with our new radio, which seemed to have constant traffic on the air, noted that there was a heavy Police presence outside Walkabouts, which was also very full and therefore very busy. Two Police officers arrested a man for an assault on another man inside Walkabouts. The injured victim was outside with visible head injuries. The Police cleaned him up, though he turned down any further medical assistance. In chatting to the door staff at Le Reve, it was commented on how Walkabouts was just getting busier all the time.
The stalls along Minster Pool walk were being set up for the Christmas Lights switch on in the City on Sunday. We walked down Dam Street and spoke to two gentlemen from Bolton attending a birthday party. They were very impressed with our magnificent City, and in particular the Cathedral. We showed them the Dr. Johnson statue on the Market Square, and gave them a brief potted history of Lichfield.
By the time we had walked around the Market Square we noticed that the George 1V had a couple of Police cars outside and officers dealing with drunken people spouting some rather colourful language.
By the time this patrol had re-joined the team, we had received a further £20, from two passing well-wishers. Throughout most of the night it remained very busy on Bore Street, where we were. The Millenium Chicken takeaway shop seemed to be continuously packed.
Several youths on bikes were openly smoking cannabis opposite us. We came across three of the City's homeless people, all the usual faces. They were duly supplied with hot drinks and biscuits. Because of the busyness of the night and where the team's base was located there was a sense of feeling a little vulnerable and uncomfortable coupled with the fact that the 'Just Eat' type delivery guys think it's OK to park their cars right in front of our table.
(We maybe need to look for a different spot for our base!)
The man who had earlier been assaulted at Walkabouts came passed and asked if he and his wife could sit with us. They did and the team comforted them. They asked if we could help locate their teenage daughter, who was last seen in Walkabouts, and get her to come to them. We went and spoke to the door staff, who asked the DJ to give an announcement but to no avail though - the daughter didn't appear, which made her mother very upset. They sat with us for a while, then walked away to the taxi rank, which was also extremely busy throughout the night.
Hot drinks and biscuits were constantly being dispensed and we handed out several pairs of flip flops. Sgt Lee Walker joined us, and we discussed the busy atmosphere of the night. We gave him some flip flops to hand to a shoeless, young lady.
Around 11.30pm, we were joined by a rather drunk young man, who sat with us for some time. He was confused and a little argumentative. He wouldn't tell us his name, however, he lived in Lichfield, and wanted to get a taxi home. The taxis wouldn't take him, because he was way too drunk.
A bit later, the ever patient doorman Bobby, brought us some welcome, hot chips. Our inebriated young man was very reluctant to give up his seat, so Sgt Walker was asked if he could help. He did, and asked the man to move to one of the benches opposite, which he duly responded to.
By ten past one am, we were ready to pack up. We had seen some kind acts, and some not so kind ones, however, the Late Night Listeners were there for everyone. What a top team we work with and we honour them for their compassion and commitment to serving their community.
Subject: LNL Report 14th December 2024.
Unfortunately, only a gang of four of us made our way out onto the streets of Lichfield shortly after 10.15 pm. It was a dry and relatively mild night although it did get colder as the night went on. The City streets were positively bustling with people out celebrating seemingly with Christmas cheer.
Though there was a somewhat different vibe evident to the night other than the usual feel though it still featured plenty of 'well-oiled' festive revellers.
It was this team's first experience of the new radio which we found pretty straightforward to use thanks to some well-written instructions.
We also had our new A-Frame sign and a new location to set up at (our appreciation to the very pleasant manager of Betsy's Little Dessert Shop) which was much better than before, giving us more room and a much better feeling of security for the team.
The addition of the lights from the Betsy's negated the need for our extra lights, which thankfully gives us less to carry around.
We experienced the usual steady stream of visitors to the table, some of whom knew us well and others who had never seen us before.
For some reason, on this particular evening the tea was very popular whilst our coffee flask remained almost untouched.
In addition to our usual selection of biscuits, we were able to offer some sandwiches, sausage rolls and other finger food bites generously gifted to us after a musical evening event at Wade Street Church.
There were no major incidents but one or two people did up on their backs fuelled by alcohol but luckily no-one suffered any major injuries!
We watched two very young police officers having a 'chat' with one of the taxi drivers after he had used his horn to hurry them along.
Our friendly doorman, Bobby, had quite a chat with one of our number about Indian and Pakistani culture and language. He recommended the viewing of some action films from South India.
Later, at about 1am, Bobby was back, this time with our now regular treat of hot chips, which soon disappeared. At about the same time a local Council Leader, Doug, stopped by for a chat.
After this at around 1.20am we headed back to a much warmer base camp as by now the streets had become a lot quieter (and we had run out of tea!).
LNL REPORT FOR 21ST DECEMBER
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.
SATURDAY 11TH JANUARY 2025
It was heading for sub zero temperatures as our splendid, well wrapped up, team of five, prepared to set out onto the city streets on this first foray of 2025.
We were able to set up our table of warm refreshments back in our old spot out of the biting winds. Despite the dropping temperatures the team were all in positive spirits, and ready for anything.
The second week in January is famously dull so, as expected, there were less people out and about tonight.
We went in pairs for walks around the city. We were approached by four young men, who were enquiring as to the whereabouts of the nearest brothel, we politely declined to inform them (not that we had that particular inside knowledge anyway!!!). Adam, one of our regular homeless people, was close by. He eventually came to have a hot drink from our table and seeing that he looked frozen we gave him a silver heat-wrap to try to keep his body warm, as well as a couple of the hand warmers.
We were joined for a while by Ian, whose dad was a local teacher and artist, who turns out to have a road in Lichfield named after him.
We did dispense some hot drinks, however, no-one wanted to stay and chat for very long and who could blame them? The Siberian-like weather meant that the City remained cold and quiet. We observed a solitary police officer patrolling by. The quietness of the night was evidenced by the lack of comms on the radio. The ever reliable Bobbie refreshed us with hot chips around midnight. The taxi rank had only a couple of cars in waiting (as opposed to a whole wagon train' of them on other nights, and as it drew colder, the decision was taken to stand down 20 minutes earlier than usual.
It was good to be out with a willing team serving to offer a warm welcome as well as a warm cuppa where and when we were needed.
SATURDAY 25TH JANUARY
It was always going to be a cold one for the five legendary Listeners... and to that effect, they were all suited up appropriately for the Arctic-like conditions as we made our way to our usual set-up point. The City night-life seemed a bit on the sparse side in general but we did come across some of the usual suspects, be they homeless folk or regular Saturday night-life people.
We had one young man recognizing a couple of our team as being graciously helpful to him on a previous occasion, when he was not in such a lucid state as he was tonight.. it would be fair to say that he was enthusiastic with gratitude and respect - which is always nice to hear. Another young man asked us if we were from all from a church and we like to inform folk that LNL is actually a 'churches together' initiative that was birthed in 2008 and to this day is still a church-based venture but has grown to include people of faith and none though who, collectively, share the same desire to look to the safety and well-being of the community they choose to serve. (Promotional speech over!!).
Another young man (we seemed to have had a few in this gender category that night) stopped at our table with his girlfriend/partner to add to the chorus of compliments for what we do and the sacrifice it takes. We found out his name was Alex and, although his girlfriend/partner was less enthusiastic about stopping to chat over a hot beverage with us, he was eager enough to want to offer his service in joining us. He was duly presented with a card with contact details and, as in many cases over the years, it remains to be seen if, in a less alcoholic haze, they actually DO get in touch.
One of our team was in conversation with a couple of young ladies who thought we were all so 'cute' and 'sweet' doing what we do and then went into even more raptures when one of them, who needed to get out of her heels, was informed that we gave out free flip-flops! They even stopped another couple of young ladies, who were sporting glitzy headband 'boppers', to tell them of all we were doing for them!!
A few two-man patrols around the central City part, confirmed that, although venues were busy, there was a bit of sense that it was not like a usual Saturday - most noticeable by a lack of queueing outside Walkabouts. After seeing a definite theme of the Wild West being sported by lads and lasses alike, we surmised there to have been a Line Dancing party (which seemed a lot more fun than other possible 'cowboy' scenarios ), however we witnessed no shoot-ups, rustling or rodeos on this occasion.
We had a couple of generous donations, despite our protestations that all our wares were for free for anyone. Some people are insistent about giving 'something' almost as a thankyou and we don't like to offend their generous spirits.
By 12.30 the temperature had dropped enough for us hardy LNL'ers to start feeling old Jack Frost nipping at our hands and feet a bit more and, as if on cue, the ever lovable Bobby, security guy extraordinaire comes and asks if we would like some chips. However, it doesn't end there... a 'Just Eat' person comes to our table with a delivery bag and asks if we would like some pizzas as they have had an over-order and she has to dispose of them. On a chilly night like this we obviously agreed to take them off her hands! Sometimes there are definitely a few perks to making sacrifices..
We began to pack up and head back to base and from there onto our warm beds and some luke-warm pizza.
Subject: LNL report Sat 8th Feb
Our team of five set off from our Wade Street base camp into an overcast, damp evening with a temperature of around 4 degrees.
The barriers that had been in place for street maintenance at the entrance to Bird Street had been moved to allow for vehicle access.
It was a mixed night, sometimes quiet, sometimes very busy. Due to the lack of access from Tamworth Street, the taxis were queuing outside the Friary, leaving Bore Street eerily empty. Our first visitor was a lady who told us that she lived near Beacon Park. She stopped with us for a while, savouring a warm drink and the opportunity of a chat. Later on, whilst on a walk, we came across her again by Market Square at about 12.45 am.
There were no major problems or incidents that merited mentioning. Throughout the night we facilitated a steady stream of visitors at our table. One such person recalled how we had helped him in the past.
Our favoured hot drinks were duly dispensed but also refused and cash offered to us! Sometimes, it is very hard to refuse those who insist on giving to a worthy cause.Two young lads who were outside Millennium Chicken and rather drunk were both in fits of laughter, which made a nice change from the usual, and often, aggressive behaviour.
One of the homeless guys who was nearby was given a hot drink, biscuits, and an emergency blanket. We had a chap approach us who was very drunk and struggling to walk properly. We encouraged him to sit down with a coffee to sober up. Unfortunately he kept burning himself with the coffee.
Our military friend, Richard, called by for a chat, sporting his RSM moustache. Charlotte, our Tesco community champion, stopped by to say hello and was then helped by some of the team to find a taxi as it was very busy at that point.Towards the ending of our shift and after feasting on our usual gift of chips from Bobby and Millennium Chicken, we packed up and headed back to somewhere warm.
Night all!
Sent from my TCL 403
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: David West-Mullen <dwestmullen@gmail.com>
Date: 30 Mar 2025 18:28
Subject: Late Night Listeners reports :
To: David West-Mullen <dwestmullen@gmail.com>
Cc:
8th March 2025.
It was a fairly quiet evening in the city centre this Saturday. Our team had good conversations with a variety of people enjoying a good night out. We were asked about how Late Night Listeners operated by a group of Rugby players. They were from Derby and keen to set up something similar in that city. We greeted Caroline on our walkabout. She is often there on her own on Saturdays and cuts a lonely picture. As usual there were those insisting on paying for their hot drinks and making grateful donations despite our protestations. This gave us opportunities to explain why we were there though and that we were all volunteers. The dispensing of drinks and clearing up was aided this night by the use of brand new drip trays for the pump flasks. Hot chips from Bobby was an added bonus to end the mild night that turned chillier after midnight.
28th March 2025
Continuing the exploits of five volunteers looking to serve their local community on the night time streets of leafy Lichfield, the team launched off into a relatively Spring-like late evening. As the night kicked into gear, it became very evident that the mood of the night-time public was also somewhat muted and, and dare we say it, even tranquil?
Reactions towards us (as the night proved to evidence) was a mixture of the complimentary, surprise that there was such a thing as us and blatant thank you's for who we are, what we do and for giving up our own time in order to do it. We are always humbled by people's heartfelt appreciation. In addition, we were the recipients of one person's gratitude as they emptied their purse of coins into our hands while not even wanting a drink or anything in return... We are constantly amazed at the generosity of the general public.
It was a bit of a surprise (and slightly amusing) to us that, after the Council had erected signs along the pedestrian area stating that there was to be no parking 'at any time', in front of us was a big white transit van and parked opposite him a row of cars. The van we decided belonged to a DJ who was servicing a party upstairs at The Kitchen & Brewhouse and the cars mostly belonged to 'Just Eat' type delivery guys, although a big 4x4 parked right in front of us turned out to be the car of a couple of people who were at said party. It all came to a bit of an impasse when the police asked us if we knew who the white van belonged to - we duly voiced our suspicions and they promptly entered the party venue to get the 'white-van man' to move his white van as the Police's van could not get through! We are really hoping that once the right of entry to the pedestrian area by motorists who often use it as a convenient 'car park', is limited to those who hold a key fob or have legitimate reasons to park there, then the safer and more hassle-free the area would become... rant over!!
A couple of visitors to the City (specifically to sample the delights of Tom Shepherd's UPSTAIRS restaurant) from Shropshire way were intrigued as to what we were all doing and went on to add to the accolades and to question why other towns and Cities don't have a community service like LNL. As we had BID coordinator, Paul stop by at the same time, the couple were treated to a brief verbal tour guide of all the best bits the City has to offer.
A gentleman decked out in 'snapback' hat and carrying two bottles of beer barged his way behind us and, in a rather abrasive and uncalled for manor, threw our plastic First Aid kit out of the way of the door behind us whilst mumbling as to what we were doing in front of his premises. Turned out that he is the owner of the Tattoo Parlour which we set up in front of for each shift. After fumbling around for a while (under the startled and somewhat awkward gaze of five, hi-viz jacketed people) he eventually found his keys and went in. We decided he wasn't going to get any future business from us after that rather ill-mannered promotional introduction!
A very much kinder man called Brad wanted to buy us all something from Millenium Chicken, we did say to him that via our wonderful security guy, Bobby, we were always offered a box of chips towards the end of the night... well blow me if he doesn't come out with a large Margherita pizza and insists we all have a slice... we are so grateful that he is grateful!
Towards the end of our shift, as we packed down, two ladies came by, again, wanting to know what we did and let us know how awesome we were and the difference we were making to people's lives!! To be fair, they were a little on the 'merry' side as they duly informed us of their roles working for the NHS and that this was a night out for them to let it all out! - bless their hearts!
All of a sudden it was that time again when our regular pattern emerges..... Bobby, chips, packdown PLUS the sudden realisation that we all lose an hour's sleep when we get home, but hey, that's just how we roll!