Margaret Farley

"40 years ago we got started on the adventure of the Matthew Project. We had no idea where it would take us but were trusting God that it was part of his plan for our lives.

It seems so long ago now but I want to tell you more of the journey we had. To start with I was not really very involved with it except to keep encouraging Peter to keep going and trusting God that he would lead him in the right path. My memory of some of it is very hazy and especially of timings and dates.

At the beginning there was just Peter and a young friend from church, Kevin Short. Peter knew they would need premises and he found a small building which was previously a taxi office, at the top of Upper Goat Lane in the centre of Norwich.

Peter decided to call it Tackle Shop because they were being encouraged by Norwich City Council to help with the glue sniffing problem in the city. Glue was referred to as ‘tacky’ and Peter wanted to tackle the problem.

The premises were tiny, with little space for anyone to come in and stay for long. Peter felt this was hindering the work and before long John Drake, who was CEO of the YMCA and very supportive of the project, thankfully offered rooms in the YMCA building further along St Giles. This meant that there was space to use as a drop-in centre, users could stay for longer and there were rooms for individual counselling sessions. At this time the Government had started a scheme called Manpower Services Commission and there was enough money to employ 3 more staff. Bryan, Stuart and Susan came to join the project.

Unfortunately the Government scheme didn’t last for long but Peter found new premises in Muspole Street (off Duke Street) which had more rooms.

It was then that Peter asked me to join the team to help out part time with admin, finances and the reception desk.

Bryan, continued to work with Peter and, with me joining the project, they had more time to go out visiting schools and anywhere else that young people gathered.

It was then that Peter had the very innovative idea for a mobile service. It was just by talking with Bryan about how they could get out and be more visible that the idea was formed.

It then all happened very quickly as it was just at the time when the NHS had some “spare money” and one of the doctors who was very supportive of the work, asked Peter to submit an idea for improving the work in the drugs field. Within a very short time we had a purpose designed caravan and a vehicle to tow it with!

Peter decided to call it Tackle Express and it was launched on Norwich Showground in May 1988.  It was used to visit school playgrounds during the lunch break so that children and teens could come and listen to talks about drug abuse and ask any questions. The Tackle Express also got taken out further afield to village centres in the evenings to be available to young people there. Peter always felt educating young people about the danger of drugs was vital.

Before long there was a need for a bigger a staff team in Norwich to be there during the daytime as counsellors. Once again we needed bigger premises. This time we moved into a lovely timbered building in St John Maddermarket and this was when Andy, Elizabth and Debbie joined us. (I think I have got that right Andy!)

During all this time I was getting used to dealing with finances and learning how to do a payroll. (I was a trained teacher so had no experience of all of that). There was always a lot of paperwork to deal with and filing to do. Peter liked everything to be kept in a good meticulous order as he knew if any of the charitable trusts he was applying to for funding decided to visit us they would want to see a well-run and efficient organisation. Our premises and working practices had to be ready for inspection at any time.

One job that stands out in my memory is creating the Annual report. Peter would spend hours putting it together with photos and reports and stories as well as the statements of the accounts. I would spend hours reading through it correcting and editing. In those days it all had to be very laboriously printed off on paper on an old style photocopier. We would produce over 100 copies and each one had about 20 double sided pages. Peter was a real wordsmith and liked to report everything in full so it was always very wordy!

To save money we did it all ourselves and I vividly remember crawling round on the floor in the offices putting the pages in order. We then had to fold and staple them together. Each year it was a massive relief when it was successfully done though of course we then had the task of distributing them!

We got busier and took on new staff so we soon outgrew the premises yet again and that was when Peter found us space in Pottergate in the Quakers building. The Quakers were always very supportive of us and we had large premises at a very reasonable rate for which we were always very grateful. If you know Norwich you will realise that we were able to stay in the same area of the city which was a great help to us.

At this time the project expanded again as Peter had started the Arrest Referral scheme with staff being stationed in different parts of the County. We had become known countywide so there were a lot more places to visit and more staff needed in all areas.

Both Peter and I retired in 2004/5 and by that time I was part of a team of 9 doing the admin and the total staff numbered over 60.

Peter was always very careful to look after our staff and we had a staff away day each year so that we got to know each other better and stay united. One very memorable one was 11th September 2001 which of course became known as 9/11. It was also the day that Julian Bryant came to visit to see if he would like to work with us.

We were so happy that he decided to join us as one of Peter’s big concerns was what would happen to the Project when he retired as he didn’t want it to fold. Finding Julian was a massive blessing to us. 

Each month Peter invited a member of clergy form various churches in the City to come and take a Communion service with us and this was a special time for us as a staff but it was always optional so no pressure was put on staff to be there.

For all those years I always remember that each day was different and going to work was FUN!!! As a staff we were like a big family looking out for each other and caring for one another in what at times could be depressing and stressful work. I do know from some of the staff that they never wanted to leave which must say something about how we worked together. I count each one of them as a friend and want to thank them for the contribution they made to my life."