From sliding tackles to tackling homelessness:

An interview with Manchester United, Celtic and Scotland legend Lou Macari about the achievements and challenges that have come with his Macari Foundation.

Last month, I had the privilege and opportunity to interview a true legend of British football in the form of ex-Manchester United and Celtic player, Lou Macari. In 2016, the Scottish legend founded the Macari Foundation, a non-profit committed to ending homelessness by providing those in need with food, shelter and help, in order to help them get their lives back.

Upon arriving in Stoke-On-Trent that day, it is safe to say the weather was very cold and damp, and it was these conditions that made me take a moment to reflect on the many homeless on the streets within the country. With the homeless issue growing, rather than shrinking, it made me think of those who were having to find or make shelter in such conditions and how good a cause this foundation is in what they are trying to do.

Upon arriving at Mr. Macari’s office, where I was warmly greeted, we started to discuss, not only how the idea for the foundation came about and how it has helped many get back on their feet, but also the challenges that come with such a role.

(Picture courtesy of Clara Lou Photography)

NK: Hello Mr. Macari, thank you for having me here today. The Macari centre has been set up since 2016, what made you start this venture?

LM: One day, I opened a local paper and saw the statistics of homelessness in the area, which alarmed me as I had been in Stoke that afternoon and thought I had seen more than quoted in the paper.

The statistics came from the local Labour council, who Tories were piling the pressure on by saying the homelessness issue was terrible. To be honest, I wasn’t interested in the politics of it, but was intrigued as to how bad it was and why.

So, I went out that night and parked up Trinity street, where I would make my way from to head up to Piccadilly, and there were homeless people everywhere. In particular, there were two or three Stoke supporters outside the entrance to the Royal Bank of Scotland, living in cardboard boxes.

In order to get a better idea, I wondered over and had a chat. Here, I asked what they were doing there, sheltered in cardboard boxes, as it was raining. I didn't realise they had nowhere to go and had nowhere because they were probably thrown out of the organised places in Stoke for homelessness.

After asking a few more, plus having a bit of banter with them due to my time in the area, I then walked up to the town centre and saw the same there. I thought that there was something I could do and came to the conclusion that instead of them all being out here, I could get a derelict building somewhere and put them in there. This way, it would be a start and better than them being on the streets of Stoke on Trent, getting drenched.

NK: How did the foundation cope with COVID and adapt to the guidelines put in place by the government?

LM: When COVID came, the government appeared and said: "Right dormitory style accommodation where people are sleeping one after another is not acceptable, you need to get a bigger premises".

It was all a bit of a rush obviously and I wondered where do we take them now. So, I went up to the Unit 4 building on Regent Road, Hanley, and checked it out as saw it was available to rent. However, after inspecting it, I decided it was no use to me because it was too cold, freezing as a matter of fact. In terms of the pods, I stumbled upon them by accident really but, as they come with a radiator in them, I thought I could put the people in the pods and put the pods in the building in order to keep them warm and sheltered further. As well as space for the pods, the unit has a kitchen so that’s where we feed them.

Not long after, Chris Witty came up to the centre and thought it was great! He kept saying: "Wow, wow, this is brilliant because you can self-isolate here in the PODS, as a matter of fact you don't even have to isolate in the PODS because there is that much space here you could walk around with COVID and still not affect somebody else".

Safe to say, that was a big plus for us as it was seen as acceptable by the government and since then, we have had probably forty odd in there most of the time. So, that's where we are now and where we started…as the years have gone by, we have drifted on and we are still here haha.