Business is booming at this tucked-away 'cafe' just behind Torquay town centre - one-by-one dozens of people are continuously streaming up the hill and in through the doors, filling every available space, seven days a week from 2pm to 8pm.

On many levels this sounds like a huge success story - but it's not any ordinary business. Situated in rooms belonging to Central Church, this is the current home of Torbay's homeless charity PATH.

Every afternoon more than 100 people pile in for food, clothing, toiletries and advice. In the cosy lounge they get practical help, advice and support and they are met with kindness, human decency and a bit of TLC as they fight to avoid homelessness or try to get off the streets.

PATH stands for People Assisting Torbay’s Homeless and it was founded by Kath Friedrich and her daughter Zoe who started the charity by taking food and hot drinks out to people on the streets. That outreach work still goes on every night as the number of street sleepers nationally continues to rise.

Despite the success of their work they have one huge problem - the charity is once again in a desperate battle against the clock to find new premises before their current lease expires on November 23.

They moved into the current premises behind Central Church in Morgan Avenue in February 2019 after being given notice to quit their former home at 87 Abbey Road by landlords Torbay Council. But although the generous church gave PATH an open-ended temporary lease - the charity is once again on the lookout for new premises before their lease runs out on November 23. This is the third time PATH has lost its HQ - their first base was Roebuck House on the corner of Warren Road and Abbey Road.


We went to tell some of the homeless people's stories

'Kath saved my life'

It's hellishly busy when I arrive at the homeless centre because Wednesday is KFC and beans night and everybody knows it.

The famous fried chicken shop donates huge trays of their 'finger lickin' good food  to the charity every week.

Although lots of the faces Kath sees today are regulars, she says that every day there are 10 to 12 new people turning up in desperate circumstances.

For the numbers of people PATH helps and the amount of food it serves up daily, the premises in Morgan Avenue are tiny.

It has two levels with a small food preparation area and reception upstairs and a dining area and cosy lounge with a food service bar downstairs. There is a small outside smoking area with benches.

Kath said: "The actual dynamics of this place are so much more powerful.

"What we are starting to see here now is a positive cycle of success. It's incredibly busy, but we are getting success stories.

"Street homeless people are more visual and a lot of the general public think that it is just affecting those people they see in shop doorways. But it's a much bigger problem than that."

Most people do not want to speak about their experiences on the street and just want a bit of peace and quiet. Some are trying to catch up on missed sleep, curled up on sofas.

One young woman sipping a hot drink said: "I have only just discovered this place today and they have already done wonders for me."

Couple celebrate in tears after seven months on streets

Celebrations as one couple get a permanent home after months sleeping on the street

It's a day for celebrating at PATH as one couple come in smiling from ear to ear.

The pair have been together for 17 years, but they have been homeless since February.

Kath has been helping them behind the scene and said: "It's a massive, massive day. It makes me tingle all over. I knew that it was about to happen - but knowing how slow the system is, I didn't dare tell them in case there was a last-minute glitch."

The couple say their lowest point came when they were sleeping in a doorway which was kicked in by four youths.

"My head was split open by the broken glass," the woman said. "The whole door shattered and I was lying beside it. I have no idea if they knew I was there when they did it but I ended up in hospital."

Now they have been moved into a hotel room with an en-suite bathroom.

"We've got a bath! And a bed..." the woman says, clearly beside herself with joy. "I was crying earlier today."

Kath tells her to go into the PATH store room and help herself to bubble bath and some new clean socks.

The idea of a bed, bubble bath and clean socks is clearly too much: "I can't stop smiling," the woman said. "Everything is beautiful to us at the moment."

Even at the last minute the couple were fearful that their new home was about to be snatched from them.

The man said: "When we got to the hotel they said they only had a room for one - we couldn't believe it.

"Then they realised they had the wrong end of the stick.


Man in his 60s 'hates Torbay' after his experience on the streets

KFC night at PATH's Central Church homeless centre

Next I meet a man in his 60s who is angry and hates Torbay because of the way he has been treated since becoming homeless.

He says: "I can't wait to get away from here. Kath should get an MBE. She should be Dame Kath.

"I have had everything in my life. I have travelled the world. But when you get into crisis it's amazing how quickly your bubble can burst.

"Kath has saved my life and I won't forget it - she's always there with a cigarette or a couple of quid.

"I had blisters on my feet from all the walking from Paignton to come over here in Torquay every day to get food and help.

"I have got my life sorted out now and I am leaving Torbay and I don't ever want to come back."


How PATH saved suicidal homeless man's life

A man in his 50s admits that he was suicidal and credits PATH with saving his life after he was discharged from hospital on to the streets at night.

 "I was in a right state. The police came and found me on the steps of the Vue cinema and did a welfare check. I had no sleeping bag, no nothing - nothing warm to wear at all. I got beaten up and had my phone stolen - everything stolen except luckily my bank cashcard which was in my pocket.

"I have always worked. I am 54. I have been a care worker all my life but I was dealing with end of life care and I started to suffer with stress and anxiety.

"I am so lucky. This place has saved my life. I was suicidal.

"Now I am one of the the fortunate ones. Kath is an angel. "

Kath says to him: "Imagine if this place hadn't been here when you were discharged from hospital on to the streets at night?"

She adds: "Although nobody should be sleeping on the streets, there are some people who are more experienced - he had no experience of sleeping out. He looked like a scared rabbit when we found him. We helped him work out a plan."


Fags, food, phone chargers, hot food, hugs and smiles - how Kath Friedrich keeps people going

Kath Friedrich outside Central Church

It's hard to interview Kath. There is a constant queue of people waiting to get her attention - both their homeless clients and the volunteers and members of the public bringing donations.

In the short couple of hours I am there I start to lose count. When I arrive a smart young woman is trying and failing to hold back tears as she talks to Kath about her failing battle to avoid homelessness.

As Kath turns from her to speak to me, she spots a middle-aged man who hasn't been in for a few days and instantly she senses something is wrong. Soon he is wiping away tears and is frightened because he admits he has fallen off the wagon despite his long battle to get his life back on track.

With everybody Kath is unfailingly upbeat. She talks a lot about helping to make a plan. She knows the right people to find the right services and the right way to approach those services.

She also keeps everybody focused on what they can do today, rather than making a catastrophe out of tomorrow: "What's important is smiles and getting a plan."

One big, scary-looking man suddenly becomes like a little child when he tells Kath he can't face another night on the streets: "I just don't like sleeping outside," he says.

Seeing this tough guy in tears is somehow more heartbreaking than the sad stories of some of the more vulnerable people I meet at PATH.

Another man arrives up the hill on a heavily-loaded bicycle, with his entire life's belongings packed into panniers around him.

Yet another cyclist comes in through the door. It's not until he dismounts that I realise he has a prosthetic lower leg.

Kath knows instinctively what people need, what will keep them going and how sto stop  give into despair - for some it's the prospect of hot KFC and beans, others help themselves from huge boxes of donated bananas, apples and oranges and lots ask for her for a cigarette until she's down to her last fag.


In fact after an hour of trying to interview Kath I realise that the only way to get a few uninterrupted minutes with her is to stroll down the hill to the corner shop when her cigarettes run out. Even then, in the few hundred yards down to Castle Circus it seems that she knows the story of just about every person we meet and she greets them by name.


What happens next for PATH?

Bay Bakery donating food at the end of the day

Kath says with steely determination: "PATH will not be allowed to close."

Meetings are planned with Torbay Council in September and Kath is upbeat about the future: "Our dream would be to find somewhere else very much around this Torquay town centre area."

Kath stresses that PATH is a small independent charity which has no political or religious affiliations.

It works closely with ToWNS (Torbay Winter Night Shelter project) which is run by all the churches who open their doors in the coldest weeks to let the homeless sleep in church halls. It is also under the umbrella of TESH (Torbay End Street Homeless) and is working closely with Torbay Council's housing department and other statutory groups.

"No charity can stand alone, with the complexity and volume of people who we help  - PATH works as a very, very good connector. We are here to support the other services.

"We are working closely with Torbay Council's resettlement team who come in here every Wednesday afternoon.

"Central Church has done a lot and we are grateful for that."

But although most people want to help the homeless, PATH faces NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) attitudes. They have the money to rent premises. Last year they found an empty shop near Castle Circus and the estate agents were happy with the deal going through - until the building owner put a stop to the plan because of fears that it would be bad for business in the area.

Kath doesn't say it, but others tell me that neighbours in Morgan Avenue and around the area also want the centre moved from their doorstep.

Empty shop premises have said 'No' to PATH

Homeless 24-year-old: "I've spent a few Christmases on the streets. It does get cold."

PATH is currently paying to house four of their most vulnerable younger clients to help keep them off the streets. Some of them are being supported by social services. But the charity has to constantly fundraise for donations to enable them to provide this service.

One of the four currently being housed was clearly upset that he has to rely on the charity for help. He said: "I just want to ask why Torbay doesn't have proper places for the homeless like they have in Exeter - it's not fair on Kath. It's all donations.

"I was homeless for the last four years - I've spent a few Christmases on the streets. It does get cold."

Kath said: "We are paying for four young people to be in accommodation at the moment. We just keep fundraising so that we can do that. But if we have to start paying for our own premises we won't be able to do that any more. Without that they would have been on the streets for weeks."


The unbelievable daily round of donated food that  PATH gives out

Volunteers preparing KFC and beans


It's open daily from 2pm to 8pm.

From 2pm to 4pm the counter in the cosy lounge is open for business starting with late breakfast food like toast and donated croissants.

From 4pm it's afternoon tea time - with scones and jam or hot soup on the go when I arrive.

At 6.30pm a cooked hot meal is served every night. It's cooked in the tiny upstairs food prep area.

At the same time as dishing up hot food for 100 people, volunteers are preparing 90 sandwich packs and food parcels a day.

Many of these are given to families who can't afford to feed their families.

Kath said: "Many of these families with babies and toddlers are brought in by the services."


In the time I am there it's not just people in need who are constantly coming and going. At the end of the day vans full of food are brought by local bakeries. Supermarkets throughout the Bay also support PATH by donating food that would once have gone to landfill and ordinary members of the public also arrive, bringing hand-cooked goods.

Food donations arriving from businesses at the end of the day

Feeding people in need involves the whole community. In nearby Lucius Street there is a little pantry which people can leave or take food from, outside The Kind Grind cafe, which also operates a 'pass-it-on' free coffee to the homeless.


PATH has six chest freezers which are used and refilled every day to keep donated food fresh.

At 8pm the Central Church premises close their doors and the centre is cleaned and cleared for the next day.

8pm to Midnight the night outreach work begins

Kath and her team collected recycled tents from Glastonbury. They have given out 180 sleeping bags in a few weeks. Many homeless people try to hide and stash their sleeping bags overnight but on wet days PATH is giving out 10 a day.

The team have regular stop-off points around the Bay where the homeless know they can get a free hot drink and food.

"Paignton is very busy at the moment because there's not many services based there and most of them can't get over here," Kath said.