OUR PEOPLE: Eddie was all at sea

Like the residents he cares for at the YMCA Hostel at St Giles in Norwich, Sunderland-born Eddie Pleban knows something about living an itinerate life. He spent his 16th birthday aboard a ship to New York, his first sail in a career in the Merchant Navy that was to last 17 years.

"I got engaged to my wife Jean three weeks after we met, and went straight off to sea for nine months. When I got back we hardly recognised each other," he said.

Eddie enjoyed life in the Navy, and put up strong resistance when Jean gave her life to Jesus after an operation. "I said, 'You won't get me in a church!' I liked the Navy life too much."

But he was persuaded to go along and hear preacher and evangelist Eric Delve at Down to Earth in Norwich in the 1980s, an event which changed his life forever.

"He described the full horror of the crucifixion, no holds barred. For a tough serviceman like me, it really hit home what Jesus had done for me," said Eddie.

Then 32, Eddie found himself on his knees at the front of the stage giving his life to Jesus, along with a bunch of teenagers. And Eddie has spent the past 25 years still getting down alongside young people at the YMCA.

On leaving the Navy some years later, Eddie opened a Christian restaurant in Great Yarmouth, an enterprise which was to go bankrupt just six months later.

"We lost everything, our house, the lot," said Eddie. Together with Jean and their four children, Eddie was forced to spend four months sleeping on friends' floors until he got a job on the rigs. "I was away for another year, but it helped get us back on our feet. That was a terrible time though."

It was when a relative came to Eddie for some help with an addiction problem that he first came into contact with the YMCA in Norwich. "I rang them for some advice and spoke to the pastor; he invited me to visit. As soon as I walked through the door I could sense that good work was being done there."

Eddie started working in the YMCA's kitchen three weeks later and was catering manager for five years, before becoming a security night man, a job that isn't without problems.

"I can look after myself, life at sea teaches you that much. There were some hairy moments. One big guy, a non-resident, got into the hostel one night. We had to wear ties in those days, and he just picked me up by it, almost strangled me. All I could do was pray … and he leapt off me like he'd had an electric shock. God certainly saved me that day. And now we don't have to wear ties so that's a bonus!"

Now, as Head of Housing Services, he is also responsible for developing new projects outside the hostel: Night Stop, Y-Life and the Furniture Recycling Project have all benefited from Eddie's guidance.