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‘Mew.’ Yes, I was telling him I understood a bit, and although I was now clearly a pampered pet, it hadn’t always been this way.

‘Well, Alfie, great to have you onboard then. You’ll understand how hard it is for some of our guys,’ Greg said, sounding ever so slightly bemused.

‘Mew.’ Of course I understood, but I felt as if I needed to know more.

As we were given the tour, we met some of the people who used the shelter, and those who worked there– all volunteers giving up their time to do good. It was immediately humbling.

I felt choked up as I met some of the homeless people; some were old, and should have been looked after, others too young to be in such a predicament. There was an array of ages, and a mix of females and males. It seemed that homelessness didn’t discriminate. But they were all so nice and friendly, some shyer than others. Most wanted to pet us, which of course we didn’t mind one bit.

‘It’s still a bit quiet,’ Greg said. ‘It’ll start getting busier soon as people arrive for an evening meal. And we always need more clothes, toiletries, tents, and sleeping bags, which, if we get extra money, we can buy in, but we still always welcome donations of course.’

‘I’m going to get everyone in my office to bring something in for the shelter – I’ll call it our Christmas project,’ Jonathan said. He was quiet, as if the reality of what went on in the shelter was sinking in, and he kept petting my head, as if for reassurance. I wasn’t shocked – I knew from when I was homeless that it can happen to anyone – but I was definitely sad.

Everyone here had a story, you could see it in their faces, their eyes, their tattered clothes. I was so surprised that they were all trying to be cheerful. Despite having so little, they still managed a smile. It was heartbreaking and I realised being a sheep was a tiny, tiny price to pay… I was definitely humbled. And I needed to be. We needed to make this the biggest, best show ever, and I knew we would. I could feel it in my fur.

‘Oh, I’ll get some of the companies I work for to donate as well,’ Polly said. Matt agreed that he would get people he worked with involved, and they also asked for ideas for what the shelter could use for Christmas gifts. It was decided that gloves, scarves, and hats would be the most useful, so Claire said if Greg could get her a list of roughly how many women and men he expected for Christmas, she would organise that each got a parcel with that in. She said that they would all be gift wrapped because everyone deserved to get a nice gift wrapped present at Christmas. I felt so emotional as they discussed ways they could help, although I could hear in their voices they all wished they could do more.

‘We are so grateful, I can’t tell you,’ Greg said. ‘And of course, we’re looking forward to the show.’

‘Well, I hope that you can join us for the dress rehearsal, and we’ll put on some food afterwards too,’ Claire said. ‘We’d love for the cast to meet the people they are doing this for. We can discuss numbers nearer the time, but we’d like to accommodate as many as possible.’

‘Thank you,’ Greg said, sounding a little stunned. ‘You don’t know how much this means to us.’

‘You’re doing a wonderful job,’ Polly said. ‘This place is amazing.’ She had tears in her eyes.

Harold surprised me the most; he was going around carrying Snowball and introducing himself to people, telling them he was being Santa in the show, shaking hands as if he really was Santa. It was funny because he wasn’t normally this sociable … or this cheerful, for that matter.

‘Meow,’ I said loudly from my place in Matt’s arm, who had taken me from Jonathan. I was thinking of ways to make this even bigger.

‘I’ve got an idea,’ Aleksy said. ‘How about one evening we get the cast from the show to come here and help out, and we can get the local paper to come to that? Can we do that, Mum?’

‘Sure we can.’ Franceska put her arm around her son.

‘Wonderful idea, Aleksy,’ Greg said. ‘And, it’ll be a real treat for them to see the show, they don’t get many invitations.’

‘Don’t bank on it being that good,’ Jonathan said, but he was joking. At least, I hope he was.

‘Not funny,’ Claire said. She was right; so often his jokes weren’t.

‘Hi, I’m Lisa,’ a young-ish lady said as she came up to us. She was wearing a thick coat, which I was pleased to see looked quite warm, because goodness knew how people were supposed to survive in this weather. ‘Can I stroke your cat? I used to have a cat but I lost her and I miss her so much.’ Lisa sounded emotional. ‘I love cats.’

Matt placed me in her arms and she stroked me. I purred to her to give her reassurance. I was pleased to make a new friend and I nuzzled into her, trying to show her that I cared.

‘Hey, you are gorgeous,’ she said. ‘And the others too. I hope you’ll come back again.’ She stroked me one last time and gave me back to Matt.

‘Meow.’ I’d be delighted to.