MY OPENING gig of 2016, on the second leg of my Arguments Yard autobiography tour last Wednesday week, was in support of a real unsung hero.

Brian McGovern is a Chelmsford activist for the Rucksack Project, an incredibly effective way of helping the homeless and I went there to do a benefit for them.

The Rucksack Project isn’t a charity, it’s a totally DIY movement organised around the website rucksackproject.org.

Check it out. It asks people to go to a charity shop, get a rucksack, sleeping bag, flask, spoon, gloves, hat, fleece, undies, socks and extra food, take it out and give it to a homeless person.

Simple as that. No celebrity fundraising, no paid staff, just ordinary people helping each other. In these desperate times for so many, it’s a beacon of light. I did a lovely, packed gig at the local Asylum rock club with talented local multi-instrumentalist Pablo Morena which raised several hundred pounds to buy and fill loads of rucksacks, stayed with Brian overnight and the next morning went out with him delivering a few.

It was a lift seeing him put a smile on the face of every homeless person I saw. They all know him and know that if they need help they can turn up at his office. The irony of it all is that he’s an estate agent and he described to me how his Tory-voting co-workers were reduced to tears by young, desperate people arriving at their door.

A couple of days later he messaged me to say that a few minutes after I left, he had bumped into the local Tory MP and asked him to deliver a few rucksacks. The bloke literally legged it. Sums this heartless, complacent bosses’ government up. Good on you, Brian. I wish there were many more people like you.

From Essex I drove up to Hebden Bridge to do a fundraising gig in aid of the local people whose homes and businesses had been ruined by the recent floods — and the Tories’ refusal to fund the flood protection schemes properly. The Fox & Goose has the good luck to be at the top of a hill, so it was unaffected and a beer-sodden and uproarious night was had by all.

The next day I wandered round the town, cheerfully and determinedly recovering from its ordeal thanks to huge amounts of support from near and far, and popped into Book Case, the local independent bookshop, where everything had been completely ruined, to donate their first piece of new stock. I got a very warm welcome.

Then up to Newcastle for a show at the strangely named Butterfly Cabinet — actually a coffee and beer emporium — and, last Saturday, back to Whitby again. Another visit to Arguments Yard, the little alley which gave my book its name, and then an afternoon watching Whitby Town v Halesowen.

It was the coldest and most ludicrously wind-affected football match I’ve ever seen, which after 52 years watching our glorious game is saying a lot. Then to Scarborough for a gig with the excellent Joe Solo, a night in a Goth mansion guest house and home.

Tonight (Saturday) I’m at the Wanstead Tap in north London with Steve White and the Protest Family and my ace poet comrade Janine Booth, who is launching her new book The 3 Rs — Ranting Rhyming Revolting. Highly recommended — get your copy at janinebooth.com

Next Wednesday I’m at the Lamproom Theatre in Barnsley with Matt Abbott and Jethro. Thursday at The Musician in Leicester, the week after in the West Country. Hope to see you somewhere...