“We gave them hope, but they gave us much more,” Mike Mathews owner of the Prince Rupert Hotel.
This book begins with Mike Mathews, owner of the Prince Rupert Hotel, contemplated lockdown while Boris Johnson continued as nothing was happening in the world. He saw the writing on the wall as the Covid-19 ravaged Italy. Expecting the Shrewsbury events that drew people to his historic hotel would be cancelled, he spent the next day trying to find a use for his hotel. But there were no takers and the future of the hotel looked bleak.
Boris Johnson’s held his first live news conference. His message was avoid social contact and don’t go to pubs and restaurants. The country, and the world, began to shut down. Hotel guests began to cancel bookings everywhere.
As the outlook seemed bleak, Tim Compton, Shropshire Council’s rough sleeper officer rang. The government had ordered that councils must get all rough sleepers by the weekend (Everyone In). Could the council use the Prince Rupert?
The Prince Rupert Hotel for the Homeless is an inspirational book about people facing new challenges in their professional lives. About rough sleepers struggling to accommodate the help they were offered.