History of Caleb

It was a beautiful sunset. As I looked across the roof tops from the window of my friends flat everything was covered in a warm glow. In the street below a small group hung around the phone box on the corner. They were all in their twenties and although one was dressed really well in new sports gear, the rest looked round-shouldered and scruffy, waiting for a car to pull up with their latest fix.

Outside the corner-shop on the way home I found John huddled on the ground. I had heard him shouting when I was at the other end of the road, but now he didn't shift from his pavement bed. He didn't know me but I knew him as a long-term heroin user.

Heroin was a massive problem in Bradford and I felt I must do something.

Later, in May 1999, with a handful of volunteers, we began the Caleb Cafe every Friday. We wanted to offer something special, free of charge, to people who believed that no-one gives anything for nothing. There was a free meal, haircuts, re-cycled clothes, computers, table tennis, and above all someone to listen. To our amazement, people started to come. It was slow at first, but once word got around we were often swamped. It takes huge courage for people to walk through the door of somewhere new, especially if your self-esteem has been sapped away by drug or alcohol abuse. Through the years hundreds have taken that huge first step.

Of course, this was not enough. Our new friends soon began to ask us to do stuff for them every day of the week to help them leave their old life behind. We began with various activities, computer classes, small group work, trips out, and in September 2000 the full time program was born. It has developed through the years to become the excellent structured day care course it is today.

From meeting in a church hall when no-one else wanted to use it, we now have our own amazing building, especially adapted for our use. Believe it or not, this was GIVEN to us (no-one gives away a quarter of a million pounds, do they?) and meant we could be available to people who needed us full-time, and also develop the program fully. Its very well placed, just along the road from the Interchange. near Bradford city centre.

I am amazed at how the project has expanded. Our structured day-care is second to none, our team is dedicated, and those who come through our doors are very special people. Many who have completed the Caleb program are still drug free today, and often come to the Café on a Friday to tell their story to others. Why not come along and hear what Caleb could do for you?