A Journey North

 [This article was first published in the Lent/Easter 2025 edition of our newsletter - read the rest here!]

In the spring of 2020, the initial Covid-19 measures meant that most guests of Giuseppe Conlon House were moved into hotel accommodation if no alternative was available to them. During this time, I accepted a gracious offer from the Methodist minister and activist, Dan Woodhouse, to join him living at his manse in Brighton, East Sussex. Nora and Sam Ziegler also moved from GCH into this little community around that time.

During the next four and a half years, we became involved in projects relating to assistance for asylum seekers, feminism and transgender rights, support and maintenance in our local church, union organising, housing hospitality and outreach work. Much of this engagement was inspired by the writings and lives of Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin, and the fellowship contained in the Catholic Worker movement.

An aspiration that Dan and Nora envisaged was the acquisition of a medium-sized Brighton hotel (many were available for purchase) and its conversion into affordable accommodation for low-income residents and a day centre for the city’s homeless. Additionally, space would be made available for study groups and community organisations.

On the Sunday following the death of Queen Elizabeth, Dan, a republican, did not lead prayers for the royal family, but gave space for members of his congregation to do so. This minor, dignified action was seen by a small number of people as offensive. Their objections eventually led to a prolonged controversy and much duress for Dan.

Fortunately, Dan and the community accepted a kind and generous relocation to the Wirral, west of Liverpool, where Dan is currently minister to five churches. The reception given to us was warm and enthusiastic in every possible way. We now live together in a large home we have designated Rimoaine House, in memory of a beloved and much-missed brother of our family who died suddenly and tragically young. Often a victim of petty and bureaucratic discrimination, Rimoaine, throughout his life, was a stoic and joyful companion to family and comrades. May he find eternal love.

We are now six people sharing a corner house with two rooms set aside for either visitors or emergency housing. We attend different churches and pursue various interests. We have had visitors stay on many occasions and welcome guests from the Catholic Worker communities.

Dan devotes his energy to ministering to his churches; Nora is editor of Bad Apple, an interfaith anarchist quarterly, as well as compiling interviews and research into the life experience at Giuseppe Conlon House. She also works with the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust and is studying to be a lay preacher. Andy is involved in fundraising at a local church popular with youth and those with special needs. Rob is a volunteer gardener at Birkenhead Park while applying for full-time employment. Sam is exploring becoming a youth football coach, and I continue my studies into twenty-first-century Christianity.

As a community, we gather each weekday morning for prayer. Cooking and cleaning are shared, we make decisions together in weekly house meetings, and we sit together for dinner Monday through Friday.

Often in conversation, we recall with great affection those who came in the evenings as local volunteers to prepare communal suppers at Giuseppe Conlon House. Residents and visitors shared good cheer and fellowship over delicious dinners prepared with real TLC. We were introduced to new dishes ranging from spicy jollof rice to Korean fish pancakes. Meals were followed by varied discussions. A monthly visit by Bruce Kent invariably produced lively discourse and amicable sharp repartee.

We receive the London Catholic Worker newsletter and greatly value the work at Giuseppe Conlon House. Like all who have seen for themselves the dedication and service provided to those lacking resources, we pray that Giuseppe Conlon House continues as a shining example of charity and hospitality to those in dire need of assistance.

 I’ll close with a passage from The Long Loneliness: “But the final word is love… We cannot love God unless we love each other, and to love we must know each other. We know him in the breaking of bread, and we are not alone anymore. Heaven is a banquet and life is a banquet, too, even with a crust, where there is companionship. We have all known the long loneliness and we have learned that the only solution is love and that love comes with community. It all happened while we sat there talking, and it is still going on.”

Dedicated to the memory of Edwin Kalerwa, Pilgrim.

Paul McGrail