He writes in a colloquial style, no doubt to create a sense of authenticity. You have to get used to such sentences as “I began talking to my new pal the Holy Ghost. . .” Yet he has a degree in theology from Manchester University. Eventually, a breakdown and several miraculous encounters led him to find hope and healing in Jesus. He started his ministry by sitting by a McDonald's restaurant and befriending the homeless and hungry. Now his Church on the Street is a hive of activity, thanks to donations from those who have been inspired by his message of faith and hope. Speaking to the Lancashire Telegraph, he said: “The show been in the making for a while and has garnered a lot of interest.

The critically acclaimed author talks about swearing, messing up his marriage and why Christian art is sometimes a little bit rubbish I was in a homeless hostel, and it was the first time in my life that I was not relying on drugs or alcohol. I had these feelings that I didn’t know what to do with. I didn’t know who I was. So l prayed, and I saw a light at the bottom of the bed. It was white, brilliant white. For 15 seconds I couldn't see," he says. "It was like looking into the sun and I was paralysed by it." It was that simple. Peace flooded in. It transformed me. I used to think that forgiveness was putting my arms around somebody and saying: “Don’t worry about it, it’s fine!” That’s not my understanding now.

It’s worse now. The need is rising, but the resource is less. We’ve got more working poor and pensioner poverty. Children are undernourished and we’re seeing more disabled people sleeping rough. I could go on and on.

It reads: “It’s impossible to visit Church on the Street and not be deeply moved by the work the organisation does for those in need. It is an extraordinary place.”We need to repent so that God can move – this church included – we haven’t provided for the poor as we should have done. Wherever we are, there are people who are lonely, lost, upset, hungry. If you live in an affluent place, there are still old people who are lonely. As a student, Rev Dr Kate Coleman was open to all kinds of religions…but not Christianity. Being inexplicably drawn to Jesus took her by surprise

These adverts enable local businesses to get in front of their target audience – the local community. Removing references to God from Brownie campfire song ‘Brownie bells’ is the latest attempt by the girlguiding movement to erase their Christian roots. Emma Fowle reflects on what that might have meant for her faith journey

The police got into their vans and off they went," he says. "Church on the Street was alive. We'd found a way to do church when all the others had closed." By 17 he was an alcoholic and drug addict and his life spiralled into chaos over the next few decades. He became a coldhearted, muscle-bound drug dealer who operated in Liverpool, Manchester and Glasgow with major crime gangs. It would be amazing if he finished his boxing career and came and did this – you never know, he could choose to.” But in showing how I have found God it will also hopefully show people that you can change If you’ve had a bad start You had a miraculous experience that led you to be admitted to a psychiatric hospital. Can you tell us about that?

About six months later I was in McDonald’s. There was a guy who [I could tell] was an alcoholic. I got him a drink and a burger and started talking to him. I ended up getting him into [NA] meetings and he got clean. I didn’t break any laws – I did my best anyway. The police tried to arrest me once in a car park – I wasn’t brilliant at not hugging people, because the guys I was hugging were dying. On one street where I was delivering food parcels, three men under 40 killed themselves in three weeks. It's impossible to visit Church on the Street and not be deeply moved by the work the organisation does for those in need. It is an extraordinary place ... 'HRH THE PRINCE OF WALES, from the Foreword I’m just a broken person who’s trying to show other people where the river is so they can have a drink, I guess”During Covid, everything was shut. Even the churches were furloughing people. But we’re Church on the Street, so that’s where our church was and is – so we found ways to stay open. I love the royals but with my past I never thought they'd let a royal come within 200 yards of me, never mind shake my hand and stuff," he says. "I thought it was a bit mad."