We were very pleased to welcome Lou Macari as our guest speaker at the Monthly Meeting on 26th February. Lou’s told his story of having a long career as a professional footballer, followed by club management. After leaving football, he put all of his efforts into making life better for the homeless in Stoke-on-Trent.
Lou Macari began his playing career at Celtic followed by over 400 games at Manchester United. He played for Scotland in the 1978 World Cup and later managed clubs, including Celtic and Stoke City.
Instead of putting his feet up in retirement, Lou felt he wanted to give something back to society. He considered that he had been in a privileged position throughout his life and had done little else. In 2016, after reading about the number of homeless people in Stoke-on-Trent, Lou went into the city centre at night and discovered dozens of people sleeping in doorways. This shocked him into deciding that he must do something to make a difference. This was the time his journey began.
He contacted local council members to find a building, leading to the creation of the Macari Centre in 2016, which initially provided dormitory-style accommodation, food, and clothing. This was located in Regent Road, Hanley.
During the Covid Pandemic in 2020, dormitories were deemed by the authorities to be unsafe. After much consideration, Lou found an acceptable alternative. He rented a warehouse and installed 48 individual wooden pods, which provided residents with their own socially distanced space. Each pod included a bed, heater, and TV, additionally, each pod was numbered, giving each occupant a fixed address which enabled them to access benefits.
In August 2023, the Macari Foundation Centre moved its operations to the former Victoria Public House on Fletcher Road in Stoke. New self-contained apartments were constructed inside the building, further improving living conditions. The Centre presently houses twenty-one residents in self-contained apartments, and two in a nearby “halfway house.”
Although the Centre is now manned by a number of permanent staff, Lou has remained heavily involved in its operations, and remains its figurehead. Funding of course remains a challenge with grant aid never being a certainty.
The Chairman, in his response to Lou’s talk, noted that although Lou has received a minor honour at Downing Street, the people of Stoke-on-Trent remain very disappointed that he has not yet been recognized with a major Honour awarded by the King.
It was clear from Lou’s presentation that he is a compassionate man with a strong social conscience. We are truly fortunate that he chose to settle in Stoke-on-Trent.
We are very pleased to report that due to the generous contributions from the audience and the branch, a sum of £300 has been submitted to the Macari Foundation.
