A man who changed his name by deed poll to Mick Jagger for a fresh start in life is among a group raising money for a homelessness charity with a six-week walk across the UK from west to east.
The Via Beata, meaning way of blessing, is a long-distance route across the widest part of the UK from the cathedral city of St David’s in Pembrokeshire, Wales, to Lowestoft in Suffolk.
The route runs through a convent site in the village of Ditchingham, south Norfolk, where homelessness charity Emmaus Norfolk and Waveney is based.
Cecile Roberts, chief executive of Emmaus Norfolk and Waveney, said the plan for a 450-mile walk along the route – from St David’s back to their site – was hatched when coming up with fundraising ideas for repairs to the ageing building.
Ms Roberts, 49, said almost £2 million had already been raised to renovate the site and create a bed and breakfast social enterprise – which would teach residents new skills and bring in more funds to help support more people out of homelessness.
“We thought we needed to do something other than grant applications and really go out there and see if we could raise some funds doing a fundraising initiative and at the same time raise the issues around homelessness which get forgotten,” she said.
“People just talk about homelessness as a state of not having housing but there’s all the mental health issues, the addictions, the fleeing domestic abuse, that sort of thing.”
A small group including three of the charity’s current residents – known as companions – are more than halfway through the walk, having started last month.
They aim to reach Ditchingham on October 10 – World Homeless Day.
Among them are Mick Jagger – who changed his name by deed poll for a new start.
The 63-year-old, from Bradford, West Yorkshire, said: “For years and years, well for 40, 50 years, I’ve been a compulsive gambler and I’ve been homeless so many times through the decades.”
He said Emmaus was recommended to him by somebody at a soup kitchen in Leeds and it changed his life.
He has since been to rehab and is being supported by the charity in Ditchingham.
Explaining how he came to be Mick Jagger, he said: “I started changing my name in 2019 because I didn’t like the person who I was.
“I didn’t want to be known as a gambler, as virtually a dosser, you know what I mean.
“So I thought I’ll reinvent myself and try a new approach to better myself.
“I was nicknamed Jagger when I was growing up so I thought why not just change to Mick Jagger and see how it goes.
“I used to have hair like Mick Jagger. I don’t sing like him.
“I just thought why not use that name so I deed polled it and got accepted.
“I’ve lived with it since and I’ve just changed my life completely with a new name, new invention.”
He continued: “I try not to tell anyone my past name because it brings bad memories up.
“That wasn’t the real me. The real me is the me now, not who I was.”
He said he wanted to take on the pilgrimage challenge to “give something back to something I truly believe in”.
“This walk’s been brilliant, I’ve loved every minute of it,” he added.
Chloe Ward, who started drinking aged 11, is also being supported by the charity and is on the walk.
The 24-year-old, of Royston, Hertfordshire, said of Emmaus: “Having somewhere to live but also being able to go into work and have a purpose is massive.
“I’ve stayed in places where I’ve not been able to work and it’s really affected my self-esteem and my mental health, not having anything to do day by day.
“It’s teaching me new skills and being able to have all these new experiences with the support of other people.”
Ms Roberts said there are currently 32 residents at the Ditchingham site and they want to be able to accommodate 52 people within the next three years.
Speaking from near Worcester, she said “morale is still high” on the walk and they have been camping and staying in church halls on their way, with a support caravan accompanying them.
“It’s called the Walk of Kindness and people have been exceedingly kind to us en route,” said Ms Roberts.
“Whether that’s walking through villages or towns, people have responded to us and then gone online and donated on the fundraising page.
“That’s been fantastic and that really helps with morale.”
She continued: “Walking’s quite therapeutic but I wouldn’t say that every day we’ve felt that we were on a therapeutic adventure, it’s been really challenging, particularly Wales, and particularly this last month – the weather in Wales, we had some nice days but we got soaked through on so many occasions.
“You’re walking six, seven hours a day and you’re going through bogs.
“It’s a new pathway so sometimes you’re cutting through brambles, it’s really boggy and you’re getting rained on all day long.
“That can be really demoralising.
“But then the last two days we’ve had sunshine and we’ve been walking along towpaths near Worcester.
“It’s been a completely different experience.”
They are aiming to raise as much as they can of the remaining £360,000 needed to complete the social enterprise projects.
“As much money as possible as quickly as possible means we can support more people out of homelessness quicker,” said Ms Roberts.
For more about the Walk of Kindness and to donate, see: emmaus.org.uk/norfolk-waveney
