Episode 2 Paul O'Grady: The Sally Army and Me

I can understand people saying, "Paul O'Grady in the Salvation Army? No."

Because I've got a bit of a track record, let's face it.

'But at many different times throughout my life,

'our paths have crossed.'

And when I worked for social services,

I frequently turned to the Salvation Army for help.

'So now, on the 150th anniversary year...'

-Oh, here we go!

-SCREAMING AND LAUGHTER

'..for the next three months, I'll be working with the officers and volunteers...'

-Vegetable soup!

-You enjoy that?

-Fan-tastic! Oh, it was wonderful.

-Yeah?

'..on my very own Salvation Army training course.'

Do you know, you're putting me off old age with all this!

I'll be travelling up and down the country...

If it hadn't had worked out for me, I could be in your position now.

-Thank you.

-You're welcome.

Look at the size of him.

..and even overseas.

Too much.

Tonight, I pass on my considerable cooking skills to some young people...

As long as you watch yourself in that life,

God forbid you die or you go to jail.

..I help a man who hit rock bottom start his life again..

Seriously, I wish you all the luck in the world. Come here.

..and I pick up a new skill as a rap star.

I'll fight to the very end!

-We got it!

-That all right?

And if I make it through, they've promised me

I can lead the Salvation Army band down London's busiest high street.

It's fabulous.

For the last two weeks, I've been with the Salvation Army cadets

at the training college in south London,

'finding out what it takes to be a new recruit.' OK.

'In the classroom, I learned why the Salvation Army wash feet...'

Is this sort of for practical reasons?

Practical, but it's also because it's what Jesus did.

..before travelling down south to try and put it into practice.

Paul's only just started his personal training course

with us here and we did kind of drop him right in at the deep end.

It's given me a lot to think about.

It really has. Food for thought.

When you hear their stories...

'And it's going to be tougher than I thought.'

Ah, you're welcome! No, you're welcome.

So, a lot of the work we do here is emotionally testing

and it's not for everybody.

You have to be willing to roll up your sleeves

and go the extra mile with people.

I want him to be even more hands-on for this next challenge.

I can see why they're called an army. Because they act like an army.

They move in, they'll deal with the problem and they move out.

It's the social care that they do I'm interested in,

rather than the "save your soul".

I think my soul's too far gone, to tell you the truth.

Like an old battered kipper hanging there.

LAUGHING: You're not going to save that!

Before my next job, Jo has a little treat for me.

And this is a little something for you to look at.

Ah! Is this the new hat now?

-This is a bespoke outfit...

-Oh, wonderful.

-..especially for you.

-No, really?

-Uh-huh.

-Oh, how fabulous.

-This is the only one that exists.

The thing about the uniform is it's about faith first.

Because we couldn't make you a soldier without you telling us

that that was something within your heart you knew you needed to become.

But we wanted you to be able to feel that you are part of us.

-I don't look like a bus conductor?

-Not even slightly.

-No? Are you sure?

No, it's smart. You can't wear it yet though. I haven't said that's all right.

-You've got to wait.

-So I've got to pass the test, have I?

This shield in particular is really powerful for us,

-because it's...

-And it hasn't changed, that, has it?

-No.

We've had that since the war.

That was the sign that was on the mobile canteens

when we served the tea in the war.

The uniform has changed quite a bit

since the Salvation Army was founded in 1865 by Methodist preacher

William Booth and his wife Catherine.

They wore uniforms to identify themselves as salvationists and Christians.

In those days, the women wore bonnets to keep out the cold,

but also to protect themselves from missiles being chucked

by protesters who didn't like being told not to drink.

Today, the Sally's distinctive red shield and uniform

are recognised all over the world.

I know there's no such thing as a free lunch, Jo,

so what do I have to do before I'm allowed to wear this uniform?

-If you are able to meet all my requirements...

-I will.

-..and pass your training...

-Yeah?

-..then maybe this would be something

that you could wear whilst you march.

I'm not into fetish, or whatever you call it. I'm not into any of that.

I'm not into rubber or leather uniforms.

Just a nice, ordinary uniform.

Naval always do it for me.

'Well, enough of that.

'The uniform is a big part of a Salvation Army officer's identity.

'And I'm going to really have to earn the right to wear my outfit.'

Paul is a great talker, so one of the simplest tasks that

I can give him is to get out on the streets and sell the Salvation Army

newspaper that we've been printing and selling for nearly 150 years.

It's called The War Cry.

I have heard of The War Cry, but to be honest,

I don't know much about it.

There we are. Thank you. God bless you.

I'm being paired up again with my old friend

Major Paul Johnson from Bournemouth.

Who buys The War Cry?

-Everybody. All sorts.

-My mum used to. She used to buy it.

-Yeah.

The amount of people that come in who are now in their 50s, 60s.

And they put something in your box and they say, "That's for my dad.

"Because he was in the war, in the forces.

-"The Sally Army were always there."

-Yeah.

The War Cry has been on sale since 1879.

It was designed to bring people to the faith.

One of its main messages was to warn against the evils of alcohol.

It was popular in the 1940s and during the Second World War,

when it helped boost morale.

I thought we were never going to get out, then.

Today's paper is packed with everything from everything

from army news to crosswords and recipes.

It's sold for 20p normally,

but I do wonder how relevant it is to the public today.

Can you stand and look appealingly and smile?

That's what I normally do.

# Follow the fold and stray no more... #

Do you want a War Cry? Go on, have one.

'Maybe I can help make it more modern.'

I'm the pin-up on page two.

-You're funny, you are.

-Oh, get out of it.

Ha-ha or peculiar?

-Oh, look, see.

-Do you want a War Cry?

Go on, have one. Right, we ready?

Do you know what this is, what you're buying?

-For the Salvation Army thing.

-Correct.

It may feel like the paper is a bit outdated,

but I can see how doing this does give the cadets a chance to

talk to regular people about who the Sally Army are

and why they do what they do.

How did you do?

-I did quite well.

-Oh, you have.

Money raised from selling The War Cry goes towards

the cost of helping people in need.

Oh, no, look. Oh, that's a disappointment. Blinking euros.

Send them to the French branch.

-How much have you made?

-£16.03.

-Well, that's not a bad haul, is it?

-It's very good.

-So, then. The grand total.

-And we were only out there, what?

20 minutes, weren't we?

£43.43.

Well, that'll provide how many dinners at Christmas?

-We can do that for four pounds a head.

-Smashing.

So that's fed 10 people at least, nearly 11 people.

-That's good, isn't it?

-Yeah.

-There you go.

Selling the papers is done by trainees of all ages.

18-year-old soldier Lauren has grown up in the Salvation Army.

I've always been quite proud to be part of it,

but I know people very close to me that have decided it's not for them.

You know, there's things that are cooler that they'd rather be doing.

What was weird was seeing someone in school on a Monday morning

after you'd been playing on a Saturday was sometimes

they were a bit confused

and they would just kind of like ask what you were wearing,

and I remember once I was wearing my full uniform, and I was on the bus.

I'd just started my new sixth form.

And one of the boys came up to me and said, "Are you an air hostess?"

And I had no idea why he was asking me if I worked as an air hostess.

And he said, "Well, then why do you wear it?

"If it's just where you go to church then why were you wearing

"it on a bus on a Friday afternoon?"

And I told him that although mostly I wear it on Sundays, when

there's loads of other people who wear it, it is part of my identity.

It's something to be proud of as well.

It's where I found my identity as a Christian.

So even if you're not wearing the uniform,

you still have a part to play in the church.

But I do think there's a lot of pressure on youngsters today now.

-In what way?

-To conform to everybody else.

To be one of the gang and all that business and to be cool.

-And not to be different?

-Not to be different.

It's a big mistake to be different. Big mistake.

One of the biggest songs we sing at our church is called

I Dare To Be Different.

And it's the passion that they want to instil in young people.

The way that I do that is by not drinking alcohol.

I mean, I'm going to go to uni next year. I'm not going to lie.

I'm terrified.

I mean, for not drinking alcohol because it's such a big thing,

it's a big part of university,

but that's a promise that I've made and I'm doing it.

I definitely think she should be in charge of youth.

-She's great, isn't she?

-Missing the boat here if you don't.

-And she's from Liverpool.

-I know, exactly.

-Should we go and have this cup of tea?

-Yeah, let's have a cup of tea.

Come on, then. We've had a good day's work there, I'd say.

'Some of the money they raise goes towards their work helping

'young homeless people.

'It's estimated that nearly 300,000 youngsters aged between 16

'and 24 sleep rough or in an unsafe place, and around 35,000 young

'people are in homeless accommodation

'at any one time across the UK.

'As well as providing shelter for the most vulnerable,

'they also teach them basic life skills.'

The life skills classes that we teach in all of our lifehouses -

we don't call them hostels any more, we call them lifehouses -

they're really, really important to us

because we want people to move on and to learn new skills

and think about how to live independent lives.

Today, Paul's going to be doing a baking class

and I'm fairly sure anything could happen.

Springfield Lodge in South London is one of the ten lifehouses

they run in the UK that provides temporary

accommodation for homeless youngsters. Up to 40 of them,

aged from 16 to 21.

They stay for an average of 16 months before moving on.

Before, I was living in a girls' hostel. It was very bitchy.

There was always some kind of confrontation

and you'd kind of get in with the wrong crowd

and then before you know it you're in too deep and it's you that's

stuck with all the problems and all the tellings off and stuff.

Now I'm here to start again fresh and not let the same thing happen.

My life at the moment is looking much brighter than it was, say,

two years ago.

Young people here are taught the essentials,

such as cooking and living on a budget.

But while some are here because of breakdowns in family life,

others are escaping the pull of gangs.

I was involved with the gangs.

I was more like social with the gang members

cos I had cousins who were in gangs.

And I think me being around that crowd kind of jeopardised me

when I was in school,

I got kicked out of secondary school.

I didn't care what anyone thought of me,

didn't want to do anything good about my life,

it was just down the rails.

The last time I was in a hostel was decades ago as a young care worker.

I had a life, really, before I went into television.

I got into this game quite by accident.

I was working for Camden Social Services as a peripatetic

care officer and what we did was... Say it was a single parent,

she had to go into hospital, she had six children,

I'd go into their home and look after them as a substitute parent

to prevent them being split up and going into care.

But that was 30 years ago, and I'm not quite sure what to expect here.

-Hello.

-Hi.

Helen Wilson has looked after the kids at Springfield for years

and is mother hen to everyone.

-Are you Salvation Army, then?

-I go to the Salvation Army,

I worship at the Salvation Army on Sunday.

And I have been in the Salvation Army uniform in my younger days.

-I now am a smoker...

-So, hang on a minute.

So, if you smoke you can't be in the Salvation Army?

You can be in the Salvation Army, no problem whatsoever.

-Well, what's stopping you, then?

-It's the uniform.

You sign to be a soldier in the Salvation Army.

-Soldier to God, isn't it?

-Yeah.

And we sign the Articles of War which states that we will live

a clean living life, and obviously smoking, drinking, gambling...

sex before marriage...

Drinking and gambling I can understand, but a little whiff,

I mean, I'm sure Jesus wouldn't mind if he caught you with a Silk Cut.

I'm sure he wouldn't mind. He'd probably give me a light.

Can you me show around, Helen? Do you mind?

-Of course I will. No problem at all.

-Let's go and have a mooch.

Come this way. This is our main hub area.

This is where in the evening and mornings they all hang about.

-Playing Kerplunk?

-Playing Kerplunk.

It would be Jenga, but they argue over Jenga.

Sarah loses her temper on a regular basis over Jenga.

Well, that's me. I get the ump playing games.

-Do you have to go to bed at a certain time?

-No.

-That's all right, isn't it?

-Yeah.

So there's no bell going at eight o'clock saying,

"Upstairs, teeth cleaned and in the sack"?

-Just Helen screaming.

-She like Miss Hannigan from Annie?

This lot seem pretty happy, but many arrive here with nothing

and even have to be given basics such as soap and toilet roll,

but I just can't get it out of my head that some of these youngsters

have been involved in vicious gang life.

We recognise that gangs exist.

We recognise that because of all the dangers that go on, I mean,

we've had young people that have had ends of fingers come off,

-toes off, earlobes off.

-Is this with gangs?

And this is when they've come out of a gang.

Oh, it's part of their initiation as well.

I mean, I've known young people that tragically have died

through gang-related crime.

And it's dangerous and it's scary.

The young people in the area know that this is a safe environment.

Yeah.

The aim for these kids is to get into their own places

and be responsible for themselves.

So, for the next stage of my training

I'm going to lead a life skills class.

Classes can include almost everything from DIY,

interview skills, managing money to basic cookery,

and that's my challenge today.

If you follow the recipe, you're laughing. That's it.

I've got a little trick up me sleeve.

My old Uncle Harold's lemon drizzle cake recipe. It's a winner.

So, what you do, you beat your sugar and your butter first.

That's it, good lad. Go on.

With a whisk, whisk the butter, sugar, eggs, flour.

Zest of two lemons and juice. That's it.

And then a bit of flour so it doesn't curdle.

Now, tell me about yourself. Go on, how long have you been here?

-Past a month.

-Oh, is that all?

-Yeah.

When I first moved in, straightaway, everyone just made you feel at home.

Do you mind me asking, why are you here?

How did you get here?

Well, I just got involved in the wrong crowd

and just done silly things, and I think since I've come here

-there's been a much bigger change in me.

-Yeah.

I'm more like willing to want to get out there

and actually see what I can really do with my life.

And what would you like to do?

I've had a higher mission to want to play football.

-Do you?

-Yeah.

-Good lad. Don't give it up, you know.

No, I'm not going to.

Look, we all go through bad patches, seriously. I was a dad at 17.

-Wow!

-So, there you go.

And all that bad lot you were talking about,

-is that behind you now?

-Yeah.

-Good lad.

-You don't need that.

-No.

There's only two options for yourself in that life,

it's either, God forbid, you die or you go to jail.

-That's right.

-It's not really a life.

-Yeah.

No, you want to keep away.

They've been given hope, and you can see it in their eyes.

They've got a future now,

whereas maybe a few months ago they didn't believe they had a future.

They thought that was it for them, you know.

They were on the scrapheap.

That's ready. Get that in there. Have you put your lemon zest in it?

-Yeah.

-Nice. OK.

How you getting on over there?

Springfield Lodge has also provided a lifeline for 19-year-old Rilwam.

You can put bricks together with that.

Do you know what you can do with?

A tiny little drop of milk in there. How long have you been here?

I've been here about nine months now.

I was in care for about...ten months.

Would you say it's turned your life around?

-Yes. At the moment I'm studying engineering.

-Oh, are you?

So, my plan is to someday become a construction manger

-or civil engineer.

-Do you know what?

You've all got these great ambitions. You really have.

You should all be proud of yourselves.

-Oh, thanks!

-Seriously, you really should.

Listen, when I was your age, if somebody said to me,

"You should be proud of yourself."

Never did. I wouldn't have believed them.

But you should, the way you've got yourselves together.

You've come through the care system, and look at you now,

you're studying engineering. You're making a cake.

-Yeah.

-Do you know they need, these kids?

They need a bit of love cos that's what's been missing in their lives.

Oh, here we go!

Not the poor bloke!

I've got to get on the bus like this!

I'm working with the BBC.

They need to know somebody cares.

And they're not on their own, and that's what they're getting in here.

Nice to meet you, Paul.

Well, that concludes... That concludes...

Paul was certainly no Jamie Oliver, but they did have fun.

It was great to see him engaging with the young people,

-and the young people engaging with him.

-Come here, you.

They learnt about talking to each other, building relationships

with each other and reacted to each other in a positive way.

-Really nice to meet you.

-And you.

-Welcome to Springfield Lodge.

-Thank you.

We smell like Greggs.

And that concludes our cookery lesson. Follow that, Mary Berry.

Come on, gang, out!

Helping people move on and make a fresh start is

the aim of all the lifehouses.

Whether for kids or for adults, they want to make sure that

the transition into a new home is as easy as it can be.

This is Cambria House in London, one of 25 all-male lifehouses in the UK.

For the past year it's been home to 43-year-old Jonas,

but he's finally been rehoused by the council.

Usually the staff here help people move, but today, that's my job.

-Nice to meet you.

-Nice to meet you.

-You OK?

-Yeah, good, thank yo.

-So, you moving?

-I am, yes.

-I'm your removal company. God help you.

-Great.

-You've had a bad time, haven't you? From what I hear.

-Getting better.

-Yeah. Can I take me coat off?

-Yeah, sure do.

This time last year you were in a flat in Hampstead.

-Yeah.

-With a boyfriend.

-Yeah.

It all started with a text at two o'clock in the morning.

My partner was on a night shift and...he just said,

"I want you out, relationship's over."

And it wasn't just the three year relationship that Jonas had lost.

I put all my money into the wedding...

..which was only really two and a half weeks away.

I had not been working cos I had taken time off

to organise my wedding. I didn't have any savings left.

That was when I officially became homeless.

With nowhere else to go Jonas ended up sleeping rough.

That bench was my new home.

It seemed a good enough place to just sit

and work out what I was going to do.

It wasn't something that I ever imagined could ever happen.

It just feels like your whole world collapsed.

It's very easy to not think about homeless people.

I...

It's just difficult being back, really.

Can I ask how much you spent on the wedding?

-About 40 grand.

-40 grand on a wedding?!

I have to sit here.

40 grand on a wedding?!

See, this is love. This is what it does. Blinds you.

I just sound like an old cynic.

Do you think he just panicked and thought...?

I don't know. And that's the thing,

I've been hurt more than I've ever been hurt in my whole entire life.

But it's not just about your feelings, it's about your life.

I mean, he's changed your life completely.

And you had all these plans, you were going to get married,

you had a future together.

And next thing... So, where did you go from there?

I ended up with depression and it was just one thing after another.

I was trying to find a job

because I thought, "Having a job would help me..."

Get a place.

But then I went and got some advice and they were like,

"No, You need a home.

"You can't be sort of living out of two bags,"

-and a lot of it is a bit of blur.

-That's shocking.

But you had a classic case of how easy it is to go from

that lifestyle, lovely flat, you had a partner.

All of a sudden you're sleeping in Hampstead Heath.

It's that easy.

And that's the scary thing, it really is scary.

Where would we be without bin liners?

You can get so much more in there.

Of course you can in a bin liner, they're fabulous.

All of this is going to get creased.

Have you got an iron when you get up there?

-No.

-Have you got a bed?

-No.

You've got no bed?! Where you going to kip?

-On the floor.

-Oh, goodness.

What have you got in here, bricks?

It's part of our job here to see people move in to their own places

and settle down. It's a success for us, it's a success for him too.

Yeah, we'll miss him. I got no-one to do me garden now.

Shall we go to Finchley?

Do you want me to leave you to say ta-ra to the room?

Go on. And then don't look back when you walk out the door

cos that means you're never coming back.

It's only a short journey to Jonas' new flat,

but it's a big step in building his new life.

I'm just glad you haven't got more stuff.

Cheers. Sorry, it's another flight.

Too bloody right, you are.

You could do with a lift.

-It's all right, isn't it?

-Yeah.

Size of the balcony. It's really quiet.

This must be great after being in the hostel for so long

cos you've got your own front door and this is it now.

I'm so grateful for a lot of people who have helped me through

the whole process.

I think you've got to keep looking forward, you can't look back.

Exactly.

I should imagine you feel relieved at having a place.

So it's onwards and upwards.

I sound like a headmistress of a girls school, don't I?

Onwards and upwards, girls.

No, but it is so.

It's like this, this is it, you're out of there and here you are.

What are you going to sleep on tonight? You going to be OK?

I'll sleep on the floor. I've got my duvet.

But compared with...

Sleeping on the park bench in Hampstead Heath, yeah.

Look, I'm going to leave you. It's been lovely meeting you.

And seriously I wish you all the luck in the world. Come here.

-Cheers. Thanks very much.

-And you take care of yourself.

-Yeah?

-Yeah.

-Enjoy your new home.

-Cheers.

-Get it tarted up.

-I will do.

-I'll see you soon. Take it easy.

-No problem. Take care, cheers.

As he said, once you've slept on a park bench for six weeks,

having no bed is nothing

cos he's got a roof over his head and he can cook and he's safe.

Really difficult to put into words how excited and...

There's just so much possibility and that I think gives me hope.

This week Paul has really started to embrace what we do here.

It's all about getting stuck in and helping people

to improve their lives.

He bonded with the kids,

even if they'll never remember how to make a lemon drizzle cake.

And he made Jonas feel comfortable on what could have been

a really nerve-racking day.

Treating people with dignity no matter what their situation

is a huge part of how we work, and Paul really nailed it this week.

A few days after I visited Springfield Lodge,

Helen rang me with some good news.

19-year-old Rilwam has also found his own place

and will soon be fleeing the coop.

Thankfully he doesn't need any help moving, which is great

because I just can't face any more stairs.

-Here, I got you a present.

-Oh, wow! Thank you!

You're very... It's not much, it's a clock.

That's really nice. Thank you.

But it's always handy when you got to be up at the crack of dawn.

-Are you looking forward to this?

-Yeah, I'm very excited.

-You nervous?

-A little bit.

-Do you know what?

The best advice I was given in the theatre was,

"Turn your nerves into excitement,"

instead of being nervous, make it all...

Go the other way. Get all excited. Well, it is.

-19, you're getting your own flat. It's a big move.

-It is.

Before he moves on, Rilwan and support worker Richie

have set me a challenge.

I'm pretty certain I'm the first trainee to have a go at this one.

Did you do all this yourself in here?

-You've got a recording studio?

-Yeah.

-It's brilliant.

Who's singing this? Oh, is this you?

And Sarah.

Is this you on backing vocals?

You should have had me and me tambourine.

But it's not me tambourine skills they're after.

They want me to record a rap using a speech by William Booth,

founder of the Salvation Army.

"While women weep, as they do now, I'll fight."

And it's done to time with the music?

-Do I do it to a rap beat?

-No, you just talk it.

-Oh, I was looking forward...

-Well, do the rap, then.

You're looking at the Ice T of Birkenhead here.

I'm telling you. Can I do me moves in here?

You can do your moves.

-Are you ready?

-OK.

# While woman weep, as they do now, I'll fight

# While little children go hungry, as they do now, I'll fight

# While there is a drunkard left

# While there is a poor lost girl upon the streets, I'll fight

# I'll fight to the very end. #

Smashed! Smashed!

That all right? Fabulous.

We'll be in the charts next, kids.

-It has been an absolute pleasure.

-And you and all, flower. And you.

There you go. Me first rap record. Fabulous.

Well, that's my new career sorted.

-Oh!

-I thought I was pretty tough,

but seeing how much work goes into offering real comfort

and practical help to people who are struggling, well,

it's starting to have an effect on me.

My soul's starting to twinge, actually, since I've been here.

It's been laid dormant for quite a long time, underneath all the ice,

and now it's starting to pop up, so who knows?

You might see me marching down Oxford Street, banging on my drum.

I hope so, it's something I've always wanted to do.

That, and have a Lotus Europa Mark2, but there's no chance of that.

'Next time, believe it not, I end up giving a Bible class.'

Go easy on her.

'I train to walk a mile in someone else's shoes.'

I'm spinning going, "Where am I going, luvvy?"

'And I face my biggest fear.'

I'm not scared of death at all. I'm more scared of losing me marbles.

Come here, you.