She explains how it had all started because Tor had told her parents and Alice and Graham about how she’d been helping out at the charity and her mother, with an earnestness that always gets right up Tor’s nose, announced that she thought it was ‘commendable’ that Tor was helping out ‘those poor people’. Tor had wanted to point out that the poor people would have been a lot better off if her simple wish had been listened to and they’d all sponsored her for her upcoming dawn charity swim instead of sending presents, as she’d requested.

And that’s when Graham had chipped in.

‘You say that, Rita, but I think half the people on the streets aren’t really homeless.’ He takes a big bite out of his cheese-laden cracker, but not before adding, ‘Just putting it out there.’

Still eating, he ploughs on. ‘They’ve got hostels to go to. That’s what I pay my council tax for.’ His cheeks are flushed from the champagne they’ve been drinking (apparently since breakfast) and now he takes a slug of port to wash down the cheese. He runs his tongue unpleasantly around his teeth. Tor happens to know that he cracked on to one of Alice’s bridesmaids the night before their wedding, so she’s never trusted him. She’s often wished that she’d had the guts to pipe up and tell Alice the truth, but confrontation is not her forte. However, something about the way Graham’s eyes glint now gives her the courage she needs.

‘That’s not really the same as a home though, is it, Graham? There’s rooflessness, I grant you. People who are sleeping rough, but there’s also homelessness. People who have a shelter, but it’s only temporary.’

‘It’s better than nothing.’

‘But only just. Don’t people deserve more? How would you feel if you had to stay in a hostel? Surrounded by strangers? With no home comforts? Told to get out and move on in the morning?’

Tor doesn’t point out that there are other, even more toxic forms of homelessness. Like the families she deals with who are living in insecure housing, where they’re trapped by payday loans and debts, living with the constant threat of that knock on the door that means they’ll be evicted. Or the youngsters she knows who are staying with family and friends, but they’re stuck sofa-surfing.

‘Yeah, well, those people don’t really help themselves, do they? I don’t rely on other people,’ Graham says.

‘They didn’t become homeless by choice, Graham. Mostly, there are many factors involved.’

‘Like what?’

He’s so fucking ignorant. ‘Well, lots of them got made redundant, or become unemployed in a place where there’s no hope of getting another job. And once they’ve lost their home, they don’t necessarily get access to welfare benefits, or have the education or language skills to help themselves get online. And that’s all before you factor in poor mental health, or people who have come out of prison, or people who have lost their partner or the person who looked after them.’