Former homeless man opens pizzeria thanks to foodbank chef
BBCA man who was once homeless is now running a successful pizzeria thanks to a chef at a soup kitchen who taught him the art of making pizza.
Mark Clarey, of Blackpool, said his life had "spiralled" and "he lost everything" in 2019, including his home and his events company, after the deaths of his mother, his step-father and his auntie within months of each other.
But despite losing his home and staying in a friend's shed, Clarey wanted to help when he heard about a charity asking for clothes donations for homeless people.
Clarey spent time collecting clothes for Amazing Graze and his "good deed came back tenfold" when the founder offered to put him up in a hotel, something he described as a "turning point" that eventually led to him setting up Bedrock Pizza.
The 62-year-old said after his auntie and mum had died, his step-father's death was "the straw that broke the camel's back". He said he had "lost the plot" and took his eyes off his events business.
It led to Clarey losing his home, though he still had a van. In November 2018, he used it to collect clothes and bedding for Amazing Graze, a community cafe which supports homeless people.
When he handed the donations over to its founder Mark Butcher in a car park in Blackpool, the chance meeting was what Clarey described as a "massive turning point".
Butcher, who was then a trustee at the charity and is still a volunteer, was impressed that Clarey was helping others when he was also homeless.
He offered to pay for a hotel out of his own pocket to keep Clarey off the streets.
"I was very, very fortunate," Clarey said.
It was the start of a great friendship and Clarey said Butcher had given him mental stability and moral support which enabled him to bounce back.
It also happened to be at a time when Amazing Graze was forced to find new premises and moved to Bolton Street in South Shore, Blackpool.
Clarey, who was an electrician and plumber and could tile, volunteered to help do it up, as a thank you for Butcher paying for his accommodation.
"It was a wreck," he said. "It didn't even have modern plug sockets."
Clarey said they had started building a temporary kitchen along with other volunteers on a Monday and the soup kitchen was serving food by the Friday.
"It gave me something to occupy my mind and gave me meaning and purpose," he said.
In 2020, he helped transform part of the premises into Pizza Grazia restaurant to boost Amazing Graze funds.
This resulted in one of the group's volunteers, who was a trained chef, teaching Clarey how to make pizzas and it eventually inspired him to set up a business making wood fired pizzas from a van.
"I had seen an old retro caravan at a festival in 2015. The hatch opened and there was a pizza oven inside," he said.
"I thought then it was a great idea for business."
Clarey refurbished a van and launched Bedrock Pizza in September 2020.
As well as running the business, he has continued to volunteer at Amazing Graze and he is currently helping to transform the first-floor building into a church and community centre.
"I needed a hand up - not a hand out - and that is what Mark gave me," he said.
Butcher, 56, said Clarey "was one of the charity's biggest success stories" and a "shining example" of people who had been helped by Amazing Graze.
He said they had helped each other since the lucky stroke of serendipity in a car park in Blackpool and they were "like brothers" now.
They had a lot in common, including both losing their mothers.
"We related in our grief for our mums," he said.
Clarey is leading the team of volunteers currently turning the first-floor of Amazing Graze's building into a church and community centre.
"He is very gifted... he was also a top DJ... and can fix and do anything," Butcher said.
He added he was "very proud" of what Clarey had done.
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