Saint in the city: Meet the woman going extra mile to help Wolverhampton's hungry

Maria delivers a hot meal and drink and a friendly welcome from a base at Alice's Tearooms, Queen Square, four days a week and has been working among the city's homeless for over eight years.

The founder of the Future For All charity works tirelessly along with a small team of volunteers, a number of whom she has known from her days at The Good Shepherd Church, in Broad Street, and the Darlington Street Methodist church.

Tony Wortley, who has run Tony's Tea Rooms and the adjacent Tony's Deli for over three-and-a-half years, donated his cafe space after initially providing supplies of unsold sandwiches and food to the outreach.

That was when Maria was not even allowed to open up a premises to do her work and trawled the city streets providing food and drink out of the back of her car, stopping at bus shelters to drop it off, sometimes attracting the attention of the police.

Tony started his cafe just before the first lockdown started and found it a shock.

He said: "I think everyone suffered during lockdown, it was a lean time for businesses but I was helped out by the banks such as NatWest who had to stay open, and employees who chose to spend their meal allowances with me, so to help someone else out came naturally.

"I had food and supplies right from the off that were only going to be thrown away otherwise so I was only too pleased to help Maria out when I saw the work she was doing in the city centre.

"When the restrictions eased I really got talking to her properly and found she didn't have a base to operate out of, or really the hope of finding a base with limited resources, so I offered her the use of Alice's when we are closed."

Every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday, up to 30 people can be seen queueing up outside Alice's where they will receive a hot meal which can be anything from fish and chips, to pizzas or pasta with meatballs and chicken or vegetables. On a Thursday, food is provided from an alternative venue.

Maria, aged 60, started volunteering with Wolverhampton Homeless Outreach eight years ago when her mother was ill and she was at a low point.

She said: "I saw the advert in the paper and when I started, threw myself into it to try and forget my worries, and enjoyed meeting the people and doing something for the community and the people of Wolverhampton.

"I loved it to be honest and we did a lot of good work but eventually the organisation wanted to go their own way and I set up as a sole trader which had its own challenges because, as the name suggests, you are pretty much on your own and have to do everything to set the business up and keep it running

"But it developed, thanks to some great help from volunteers, and we operated out of various venues such as the Good Shepherd and Darlington Street Methodist Church before it closed down. Then we had to find a new place.

"The biggest challenge though was Covid and the lockdowns, because even if you wanted to or could find premises to operate from, you weren't allowed.

"A lot of the people who come to Alice's I have known for a number of years and they have been through various experiences. I don't ask but if they want to talk I am always here to listen.

"During the lockdowns I was literally working out of the back of the car and taking the food parcels to where I knew people would be, as many of them haven't got telephones or any means of communication.

"People weren't even meant to be out, and there were some situations where the police would be suspicious of what we were doing when we were driving round and stopping at different places but we struck up a good rapport with them."

The food provided is donated or obtained at a rock bottom price by various businesses or places of worship in Wolverhampton, such as chip shops, takeaways, temples or shops.

Maria added: "We always provide a hot meal because some of the people we serve may have a place to live but they may not have the means to cook or be able to afford the electricity to cook with. I know it is a well-used phrase but I always say it is sometimes 'eat or heat' for people.

"Being able to operate from Alice's is a godsend – Tony was wonderful during the lockdown in providing food and drink and it went from there – it makes such a difference having a base to work from, especially in the city centre where we are also visible."The 60-year-old has made some good friends from the people she has either worked with, served or both, such as Ian Lloyd, who used to volunteer with her at Darlington Methodist Church and now uses the outreach himself.

He said: "Maria is wonderful, the selfless work she has done is amazing and she has helped so many people, including me. I have seen both sides because I used to work with her, now I visit Alice's but I know the others who come here, many who would struggle to get a meal otherwise, love her for the work she does.

"This is a great venue. It is fantastic that Tony could offer it to the charity and shows that people really do care about each other."

Kate Alexander volunteers at Alice's after meeting Maria at Broad Street and the former council worker says there is a real need for the work because of the food poverty situation in the country.

She said: "I try to do my bit now I don't work full time and the kids are grown up now so I am able to help out more. I have also lived in Wolverhampton for over 30 years and have seen the need for the work Maria is doing and other organisations that work with the homeless and needy."

Bally Dhillon is another volunteer and long-standing friend of Maria's and says she enjoys being able to help people and also the social aspect of the volunteering.

She said: "I have met new friends both through the volunteers and the people who use the service – there is obviously a need for it because of the amount of people queueing up. It is just a pity we can't have them sitting inside as the space is small and it is taken up by the food and volunteers but I know the work we do is appreciated because they tell us."

Plans are afoot to build links with supermarkets in the area to provide food that is not sold and also with the council to ease parking restrictions in Queen Square for vehicles delivering to the community effort.