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| One night on the street witnessing Britain's homeless crisis – live | One night on the street witnessing Britain's homeless crisis – live |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| 1.02am GMT | |
| 01:02 | |
| Before we wrap up, a couple of tweets. | |
| Firstly, back to Josh Halliday in Birmingham, where it’s bedtime | |
| And in Manchester, frustration at the lack of housing support for young people | |
| 12.53am GMT | |
| 00:53 | |
| Mark Rice-Oxley | |
| So how do you get out? Once you’re on the streets how do you come back in from the cold? | |
| David from Leeds was homeless, but isn’t any more. He tells us what helped him come through years of prison, drink and homelessness. | |
| I was married. I lived with my wife and another alcoholic, Alf. She was his carer and I’d go down to the Crypt to pick him up. I was more of a house alcoholic – I managed it. My wife got cancer and I couldn’t cope with caring for her so I took the coward’s way out and left. | |
| When I found out she died I drank more and more and ended up at the Crypt. I met my second wife there. We got married at 9am and she was on a bus by 2pm. She’d left me. All on the same day. I went to the solicitor to get a divorce. ‘Have you consummated your relationship?’ he asked. We hadn’t, but I’m still not sure if we’re married or not. | |
| Since then I’ve basically been in and out of prison – drinking, prison, trying to stop but never succeeding. The alcohol always rears its ugly head. | |
| The Crypt has given me so much support, much of which I don’t feel I deserve. I’ve been banned for life nine times, yet they still always let me come back. They’ve never forsaken me. No other agency would work with me, but they’ve never given up. | |
| They’ve always given me support, especially Ian on the van. Now they give me a bit of routine and discipline. They’ve put up with me when I’ve been difficult and always done their best by me. They’ve helped me get my own house, I help out volunteering on the van and they’ve also helped me get a housing support worker. I’m 54 now, so this is my last chance. I’ve had more comebacks than Frank Sinatra. I just hope that a year from now I will still be abstinent and hopefully have a job. | |
| Updated | |
| at 12.55am GMT | |
| 12.44am GMT | |
| 00:44 | |
| What next? | |
| Amelia Gentleman | |
| Where is the crisis headed next? | |
| Helen Mathie, Head of Policy with Homeless Link, warns that rough sleeping will get worse when the next round of welfare reforms are introduced. She predicts there could be a lost of thousands of bed spaces and the closure of many homelessness services as a result. | |
| She explains why here. It’s complicated but important. | |
| In last year’s Spending Review the Government outlined plans to cap the amount of rent that can be charged in social housing to Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates, the amount of housing benefit people receive in the private rented sector. LHA rates are generally much lower than social rents, and in particular are much lower than the rents for supported housing. | |
| Supported housing is the term used to describe emergency and longer term housing for those with additional needs: many have poor mental health, may be recovering from substance use, or have previous contact with the prison system. This accommodation is a lifeline to not only improving their health and independence, offering support into employment, but also in preventing people otherwise ending up in expensive acute care, back in prison, or on the streets. Supported housing has been shown to save money to other areas of public spending, and make a huge difference to people’s lives. | |
| The proposal to cap rental income at LHA rates threatens to shut thousands of these units for homeless people across England. The reason LHA is inadequate is that supported housing costs more to run than general needs or private sector housing: there are higher costs associated with a high turnover of tenants; for keeping properties safe and secure; and for adaptions which might be needed to accommodate those with complex health needs. | |
| Based on evidence from Homeless Link and Sitra’s members across the country, we know that if they go ahead, the LHA caps would force many homelessness services to close their doors. Feedback from over 50 agencies providing over 10,000 bedspaces for homeless people in England, shows we are looking at an average projected loss of income of nearly £60m per year for these services alone, an average reduction of 62%. At a time when homelessness services are already struggling to meet demand, and numbers of rough sleeping are rising, we cannot afford to lose these critical services. | |
| Moreover, taking into account all the other types of accommodation which would also be affected - refuges, drug rehabilitation, housing for ex-offenders, sheltered accommodation - the scale of the impact cannot be over-estimated. | |
| Updated | |
| at 12.44am GMT | |
| 12.36am GMT | |
| 00:36 | |
| Tonight we met... Emma | |
| Kate Lyons | |
| Until Emma found herself homeless and living in a shelter with 25 other adults, she had never so much as shared a communal living room with flatmates. The 37-year-old had only ever lived by herself or with a partner. | |
| But then you split up with your partner, he owns the house, your daughter stays living with him, he remarries and I literally had to make myself homeless to get any help,” she said. | |
| Emma says her relationship with her former partner had become “quite abusive”. She says she was financially dependent on him, quitting her job when she had her daughter, now seven, so when she left her partner, there was nothing to fall back onto. | |
| Once she left him and became homeless, Emma was able to get into a hostel and she has been living in hostels for a bit over two years. To get a place in a hostel, at the advice of someone who knew the system well, she pretended to have been rough sleeping. | |
| Thus I got into the system. I wouldn’t have lasted five seconds out there,” she says. “being in here’s certainly opened my eyes.” | |
| Emma describes her experience in hostels as “quite brutal” and says she hasn’t always felt safe while there. She has a new partner who lives outside of the homelessness world and could move in with him, but after her experience with her ex-partner, wants to make sure she is independent before doing so. | |
| Sometimes it’s like, please give me my normality back. A lot of people don’t know I live here. I used to host dinner parties. If I brought my friends here they’d think I’m off my fucking nut.” | |
| She is now studying social work and hopes to be able to work in the industry in the future. | |
| I want to be able to give something back. If I could help someone it would seem these last couple of years weren’t a waste.” | |
| 12.26am GMT | 12.26am GMT |
| 00:26 | 00:26 |
| Jessica Elgot | Jessica Elgot |
| At the Harrogate homeless project hostel, camp beds have been made up on the floor of the meeting room, with three more people sleeping on sofas in the communal lounge. The hostel will be full tonight with five more rough sleepers who will come here as part of the ‘No second night out’ project, which has had more than 600 referrals in the three years it has been running in the town, giving people temporary emergency accommodation and support. | At the Harrogate homeless project hostel, camp beds have been made up on the floor of the meeting room, with three more people sleeping on sofas in the communal lounge. The hostel will be full tonight with five more rough sleepers who will come here as part of the ‘No second night out’ project, which has had more than 600 referrals in the three years it has been running in the town, giving people temporary emergency accommodation and support. |
| Demand has been so great the council has funded the building of a new wing for the hostel, to give proper beds for the temporary shelter. | Demand has been so great the council has funded the building of a new wing for the hostel, to give proper beds for the temporary shelter. |
| Paul Benson (not his real name) is spending his third night sleeping in the sofas on the lounge, having spent the past week sleeping in fields and park benches, and then in the church hall which opened as an emergency shelter on nights the temperature dropped below freezing. | Paul Benson (not his real name) is spending his third night sleeping in the sofas on the lounge, having spent the past week sleeping in fields and park benches, and then in the church hall which opened as an emergency shelter on nights the temperature dropped below freezing. |
| I had everything and I lost everything. I had a business which meant I could buy Bentley’s and Rolls Royces, I thought nothing of buying my wife a £2,000 dress. And I lost it all. I would come out of fancy restaurants and pass by people on the street, and think they were bums. And now I’m one of them. I know what people think of me, because I used to think like that.” | I had everything and I lost everything. I had a business which meant I could buy Bentley’s and Rolls Royces, I thought nothing of buying my wife a £2,000 dress. And I lost it all. I would come out of fancy restaurants and pass by people on the street, and think they were bums. And now I’m one of them. I know what people think of me, because I used to think like that.” |
| After spending two nights sleeping rough, Benson said he eventually just flagged down a police car in desperation. | After spending two nights sleeping rough, Benson said he eventually just flagged down a police car in desperation. |
| I was so ashamed, I didn’t speak to anyone at all about what was happening. You think you know what it means to be cold, but you don’t know what it’s like to be on a park bench at 2 in the morning, knowing you can’t get warm until 9. I couldn’t face another night of walking around in the cold. But they took me to the emergency shelter and I’d never seen anything like that before. I’ve never been around drugs, it was just horrendous. If I was 20 years younger, I might have seen the appeal of it, because I am suffering. But now I know it’s not going to solve my problem. It’s the hours that drag by, doing nothing, which is so hard. You get a meal at lunch time and you can’t go to the shelter until 8pm. You walk around for hours in the cold, nothing to do.” | I was so ashamed, I didn’t speak to anyone at all about what was happening. You think you know what it means to be cold, but you don’t know what it’s like to be on a park bench at 2 in the morning, knowing you can’t get warm until 9. I couldn’t face another night of walking around in the cold. But they took me to the emergency shelter and I’d never seen anything like that before. I’ve never been around drugs, it was just horrendous. If I was 20 years younger, I might have seen the appeal of it, because I am suffering. But now I know it’s not going to solve my problem. It’s the hours that drag by, doing nothing, which is so hard. You get a meal at lunch time and you can’t go to the shelter until 8pm. You walk around for hours in the cold, nothing to do.” |
| Sam Lawson is only 23, one of the youngest in the hostel, but this is his second time he has been referred here as a long-term resident, having spent the past months homeless and sleeping on friends’ sofas. | Sam Lawson is only 23, one of the youngest in the hostel, but this is his second time he has been referred here as a long-term resident, having spent the past months homeless and sleeping on friends’ sofas. |
| It’s like being in a shared house. I like the rules and the order, it’s what I want at the moment. Eventually I want my own place, my own job, what everyone wants really but this place is what I want right now because it’s where I can get support, where people will fight for you to get housing.” | It’s like being in a shared house. I like the rules and the order, it’s what I want at the moment. Eventually I want my own place, my own job, what everyone wants really but this place is what I want right now because it’s where I can get support, where people will fight for you to get housing.” |
| Born and bred in the town, Lawson has found it impossible to afford the high rents charged by the landlords after leaving home. | Born and bred in the town, Lawson has found it impossible to afford the high rents charged by the landlords after leaving home. |
| It’s so expensive but it’s home so what are you supposed to do? I tried leaving but I wanted to come back because it’s my home. Other than this place, there’s no help for you. It’s frowned upon to live here. But I grew up on a council estate in Bilton, not everyone here is upper class. Rents are about £90 a week in private housing, I get £60 a week, around that, in housing benefit. I shouldn’t have to leave my home town.” | It’s so expensive but it’s home so what are you supposed to do? I tried leaving but I wanted to come back because it’s my home. Other than this place, there’s no help for you. It’s frowned upon to live here. But I grew up on a council estate in Bilton, not everyone here is upper class. Rents are about £90 a week in private housing, I get £60 a week, around that, in housing benefit. I shouldn’t have to leave my home town.” |
| The steep cost of living is a refrain staff here constantly from people who come to seek their help. Between April and September last year, more than a quarter of the Harrogate homeless project’s referrals came to them after being evicted from their homes, with landlords and letting agents increasingly reluctant to rent to people receiving benefits, especially if a once stable person has had a downward turn in circumstances, such as losing their job. | The steep cost of living is a refrain staff here constantly from people who come to seek their help. Between April and September last year, more than a quarter of the Harrogate homeless project’s referrals came to them after being evicted from their homes, with landlords and letting agents increasingly reluctant to rent to people receiving benefits, especially if a once stable person has had a downward turn in circumstances, such as losing their job. |
| Because of the steep rents in the area, the project staff has found many people classified as ‘low needs’ who could live successful independent lives were becoming street homeless because of the obstructiveness of local landlords who would not let to people on benefits even for short periods. | Because of the steep rents in the area, the project staff has found many people classified as ‘low needs’ who could live successful independent lives were becoming street homeless because of the obstructiveness of local landlords who would not let to people on benefits even for short periods. |
| Living with friends on their sofas had sent Lawson into a downward spiral, he said. | Living with friends on their sofas had sent Lawson into a downward spiral, he said. |
| Just drinking, partying every night. I hit the bottom of the barrel,” he said. “The turning point was actually admitting I was struggling, just telling someone my mental health was not great. It was a shock to admit that. But here I can get my head together a bit. You make close friends, you feel like the others are watching out for you.” | Just drinking, partying every night. I hit the bottom of the barrel,” he said. “The turning point was actually admitting I was struggling, just telling someone my mental health was not great. It was a shock to admit that. But here I can get my head together a bit. You make close friends, you feel like the others are watching out for you.” |
| Updated | |
| at 12.40am GMT | |
| 12.21am GMT | 12.21am GMT |
| 00:21 | 00:21 |
| Mark Rice-Oxley | Mark Rice-Oxley |
| There is not just a hyperactive revolving door between the streets and prison. There is a similar two-way valve between the streets and hospital, and very often just not enough of a system to cope with the in-out traffic. | There is not just a hyperactive revolving door between the streets and prison. There is a similar two-way valve between the streets and hospital, and very often just not enough of a system to cope with the in-out traffic. |
| Cat Whitehouse of the Pathway organisation said: | Cat Whitehouse of the Pathway organisation said: |
| There is a dismal revolving door between the streets and hospital. When someone loses their home, their physical and mental health can rapidly deteriorate. Injury, illness and hospitalisation follow. | There is a dismal revolving door between the streets and hospital. When someone loses their home, their physical and mental health can rapidly deteriorate. Injury, illness and hospitalisation follow. |
| After treatment there is no rest for the homeless patient, s/he is unceremoniously discharged onto the street, stitches that need to be kept clean get dirty, people who need nursing care sleep on concrete. | After treatment there is no rest for the homeless patient, s/he is unceremoniously discharged onto the street, stitches that need to be kept clean get dirty, people who need nursing care sleep on concrete. |
| Eventually the public stop passing by, realise someone has collapsed, and the person returns to hospital by ambulance; infected, malnourished and exhausted, to undergo further treatment and repeat the cycle again. | Eventually the public stop passing by, realise someone has collapsed, and the person returns to hospital by ambulance; infected, malnourished and exhausted, to undergo further treatment and repeat the cycle again. |
| 12.16am GMT | 12.16am GMT |
| 00:16 | 00:16 |
| Josh Halliday | Josh Halliday |
| On separate patches yards from each other near Birmingham’s Bullring shopping centre, brothers Skar Bantges, 28, and Juke Hyde, 38, sell drawings to make enough money for a B&B for the night. “Normally I get £20, £30 a day - because I’m not a raving smackhead I get in a B&B for £17 a night. Anything on top of that gets me my baccie or a bit of weed,” says Skar. | On separate patches yards from each other near Birmingham’s Bullring shopping centre, brothers Skar Bantges, 28, and Juke Hyde, 38, sell drawings to make enough money for a B&B for the night. “Normally I get £20, £30 a day - because I’m not a raving smackhead I get in a B&B for £17 a night. Anything on top of that gets me my baccie or a bit of weed,” says Skar. |
| The brothers, from Bedfordshire, have been on the streets for over a year. They look out for each other, Skar says, taking it in shifts to sit and sell their artwork while the other gets a coffee and some warmth. “There are some nice people and some people who look at us as if we’re shit. They’re one payday away from being like us,” says Juke. How did he become homeless? “I used to build street racing cars but I had a mental breakdown. You’re working with quarter of a million pound cars and you don’t want to fuck them up,” he says. | The brothers, from Bedfordshire, have been on the streets for over a year. They look out for each other, Skar says, taking it in shifts to sit and sell their artwork while the other gets a coffee and some warmth. “There are some nice people and some people who look at us as if we’re shit. They’re one payday away from being like us,” says Juke. How did he become homeless? “I used to build street racing cars but I had a mental breakdown. You’re working with quarter of a million pound cars and you don’t want to fuck them up,” he says. |
| 12.13am GMT | 12.13am GMT |
| 00:13 | 00:13 |
| Heroes of the night, part II | Heroes of the night, part II |
| Since Streetlink began in December 2012, it has received 125,000 phone referrals from members of the public who have seen a rough sleeper and want to let authorities know their location, so that an outreach team can be sent to help them, Kate Lyons reports. | Since Streetlink began in December 2012, it has received 125,000 phone referrals from members of the public who have seen a rough sleeper and want to let authorities know their location, so that an outreach team can be sent to help them, Kate Lyons reports. |
| In the Streetlink offices in London, Matt Taylor, the team leader, Tom Freeman, referral line worker and volunteer Sally Williams are taking the late shift. They will answer phone calls and pass on web referrals to outreach teams around the city who will then visit rough sleepers and try and connect them with local services.Since Taylor has joined Streetlink he has seen a dramatic increase in the number of referrals. In October 2015, his first month, they received a record number of web referrals - 2,500. This record was soon broken, in January as the weather turned bad, Streetlink received 6,500, that is 200-250 per day, all handled by three or four call operator, some of whom are volunteers, and outreach workers.While we are talking a call comes in and Freeman picks up. It is a St Mungo’s volunteer at a shelter near Ealing, they have had to turn away a man who wanted accommodation for the night and now fear he will sleep the night in a nearby phone box. Freeman tries to find the location of the phone box on google maps and then is able to file a report with outreach workers who will visit him. They try to reach people within three working days.Streetlink can be contacted on 0300 500 0914 or web referrals can be made at www.streetlink.org.uk | In the Streetlink offices in London, Matt Taylor, the team leader, Tom Freeman, referral line worker and volunteer Sally Williams are taking the late shift. They will answer phone calls and pass on web referrals to outreach teams around the city who will then visit rough sleepers and try and connect them with local services.Since Taylor has joined Streetlink he has seen a dramatic increase in the number of referrals. In October 2015, his first month, they received a record number of web referrals - 2,500. This record was soon broken, in January as the weather turned bad, Streetlink received 6,500, that is 200-250 per day, all handled by three or four call operator, some of whom are volunteers, and outreach workers.While we are talking a call comes in and Freeman picks up. It is a St Mungo’s volunteer at a shelter near Ealing, they have had to turn away a man who wanted accommodation for the night and now fear he will sleep the night in a nearby phone box. Freeman tries to find the location of the phone box on google maps and then is able to file a report with outreach workers who will visit him. They try to reach people within three working days.Streetlink can be contacted on 0300 500 0914 or web referrals can be made at www.streetlink.org.uk |
| Some 300 miles to the north, Paul Stevenson works at Bethany House, an emergency, temporary resettlement unit in Edinburgh filled with people who have registered homeless with the council and are subsequently referred, writes Charlie Brinkhurst-Cuff. | Some 300 miles to the north, Paul Stevenson works at Bethany House, an emergency, temporary resettlement unit in Edinburgh filled with people who have registered homeless with the council and are subsequently referred, writes Charlie Brinkhurst-Cuff. |
| We have four beds for women, and 24 for men, which reflects national statistics on homelessness. The majority of homeless people are single men,” he says. “There are different levels of support within that, but everyone who lives in our residential care has a support plan.” | We have four beds for women, and 24 for men, which reflects national statistics on homelessness. The majority of homeless people are single men,” he says. “There are different levels of support within that, but everyone who lives in our residential care has a support plan.” |
| At present there is only one bed free at the hostel, which has had over a 90% occupancy rate since the start of 2016, and Paul is initially sceptical of Shelter Scotland’s figures which show homelessness as going down in the city. | At present there is only one bed free at the hostel, which has had over a 90% occupancy rate since the start of 2016, and Paul is initially sceptical of Shelter Scotland’s figures which show homelessness as going down in the city. |
| What is worrying that we don’t have a rough sleeper count in Scotland,” he says, adding he believes there has been an increase in rough sleepers in the city. | What is worrying that we don’t have a rough sleeper count in Scotland,” he says, adding he believes there has been an increase in rough sleepers in the city. |
| As a Christian, Paul believes that it’s his duty to be helping the homeless. He converted age 21 and has been working in the sector ever since. Bethany House is part of Bethany Christian Trust, and all of the staff identify as being Christian. | As a Christian, Paul believes that it’s his duty to be helping the homeless. He converted age 21 and has been working in the sector ever since. Bethany House is part of Bethany Christian Trust, and all of the staff identify as being Christian. |
| My heart for the homeless goes back to my childhood and witnessing people in the rough. Things were at their worst during the 80s, and the bit in London where the IMAX cinema is now was an awful place, as well as around the back of the Savoy, where there was free parking. | My heart for the homeless goes back to my childhood and witnessing people in the rough. Things were at their worst during the 80s, and the bit in London where the IMAX cinema is now was an awful place, as well as around the back of the Savoy, where there was free parking. |
| Bethany House, an imposing building down by the Water of Leith (a small river which runs throughout some of the nicest parts of Edinburgh), used to be an old tea factory, “everyone of a certain age in Edinburgh will remember Melrose Tea Factory”, and is now split up into an array of flats that house four to five people at a time. | Bethany House, an imposing building down by the Water of Leith (a small river which runs throughout some of the nicest parts of Edinburgh), used to be an old tea factory, “everyone of a certain age in Edinburgh will remember Melrose Tea Factory”, and is now split up into an array of flats that house four to five people at a time. |
| We encourage a sense of family,” Paul says. “People come to the house and say it’s happiest they’ve ever been.” | We encourage a sense of family,” Paul says. “People come to the house and say it’s happiest they’ve ever been.” |
| Finally, Michelle Langan belongs to a small voluntary team, Real love that’s been supporting street homeless in Liverpool for the last few months. The team go out every Thursday night: | Finally, Michelle Langan belongs to a small voluntary team, Real love that’s been supporting street homeless in Liverpool for the last few months. The team go out every Thursday night: |
| Tonight was a little quieter than normal, but we still saw about 25 people. One lady with pneumonia, and another man who was discharged from hospital today who we were very worried about. We had a death a few weeks ago in the homeless community here, so it is a constant worry when rough sleepers get ill. All of them tonight were very grateful for hot food, soup and jacket potatoes. | Tonight was a little quieter than normal, but we still saw about 25 people. One lady with pneumonia, and another man who was discharged from hospital today who we were very worried about. We had a death a few weeks ago in the homeless community here, so it is a constant worry when rough sleepers get ill. All of them tonight were very grateful for hot food, soup and jacket potatoes. |
| I was really angry at an ignorant couple who stopped and shouted at us when we stopped to give drinks and sandwiches to three men. ‘They’re all on benefits and you lot are feeding them, it’s a disgrace.’ This is the kind of attitude we are trying to change - the perception that all homeless are ‘on the make’ or ‘beggars’ - we are all just human after all! | I was really angry at an ignorant couple who stopped and shouted at us when we stopped to give drinks and sandwiches to three men. ‘They’re all on benefits and you lot are feeding them, it’s a disgrace.’ This is the kind of attitude we are trying to change - the perception that all homeless are ‘on the make’ or ‘beggars’ - we are all just human after all! |
| Updated | Updated |
| at 12.34am GMT | at 12.34am GMT |
| 11.56pm GMT | 11.56pm GMT |
| 23:56 | 23:56 |
| Kate Lyons | Kate Lyons |
| Of the 26 people who live at the St Mungo’s shelter in west London, 11 are women. “When you look at our women there’s a very high correlation between domestic violence and homelessness,” says Ophelia Kingshott, development and implementation manager at the shelter.Lisa, 52, is one of these residents who has had a domestically violent partner - “I was beaten with baseball bats,” she says. But after long-term abuse, she was finally prompted to go to the police after she lost her dad. | Of the 26 people who live at the St Mungo’s shelter in west London, 11 are women. “When you look at our women there’s a very high correlation between domestic violence and homelessness,” says Ophelia Kingshott, development and implementation manager at the shelter.Lisa, 52, is one of these residents who has had a domestically violent partner - “I was beaten with baseball bats,” she says. But after long-term abuse, she was finally prompted to go to the police after she lost her dad. |
| He was my world and he is my world, so I just walked into a police station and then disappeared from the area.” | He was my world and he is my world, so I just walked into a police station and then disappeared from the area.” |
| Lisa ended up homeless in an area of London she didn’t know with no support network. She stayed in a hostel for a while, but when that fell through ended up rough sleeping for six months, which she likens to an experience she had many years ago, before she became homeless. | Lisa ended up homeless in an area of London she didn’t know with no support network. She stayed in a hostel for a while, but when that fell through ended up rough sleeping for six months, which she likens to an experience she had many years ago, before she became homeless. |
| One time I had an epileptic fit while riding my bike and I woke up in a park with my leggings removed and my shoes off and it was the most terrifying feeling in the world because I had absolutely no idea what had happened to me. That’s what it feels like to sleep on the streets. | One time I had an epileptic fit while riding my bike and I woke up in a park with my leggings removed and my shoes off and it was the most terrifying feeling in the world because I had absolutely no idea what had happened to me. That’s what it feels like to sleep on the streets. |
| Lisa said rough sleeping was particularly frightening for women and “the area is ripe with men with sexual deviance”. She was assaulted a few times, including being punched in the face by a group of men for stealing their sleeping spot and learnt to be canny to protect herself. | Lisa said rough sleeping was particularly frightening for women and “the area is ripe with men with sexual deviance”. She was assaulted a few times, including being punched in the face by a group of men for stealing their sleeping spot and learnt to be canny to protect herself. |
| One of her favoured sleeping spots was on a set of steps which were quite public and well-lit by the glow of restaurant lights. | One of her favoured sleeping spots was on a set of steps which were quite public and well-lit by the glow of restaurant lights. |
| If you lie down to sleep you’re more vulnerable, so if you sit up, like you’re reading a book or waiting for the bus, its safer, you know what I mean?” | If you lie down to sleep you’re more vulnerable, so if you sit up, like you’re reading a book or waiting for the bus, its safer, you know what I mean?” |
| Another challenge was holding on to belongings, says Lisa, who said she would aim to keep a spare pair of clothing dry stashed somewhere secret where she could retrieve them later.Those passersby who showed her kindness are still remembered, like the woman who was shopping with her children and when she saw Lisa sent her daughter back into the shop to buy her “everything - a sandwich, drink, crisps, dessert” and then when she was halfway down the street and saw another homeless person sent the child back into the shop to buy the same for them. But others were less kind, yelling at her and spitting at her, which she describes as “psychological trauma”. | Another challenge was holding on to belongings, says Lisa, who said she would aim to keep a spare pair of clothing dry stashed somewhere secret where she could retrieve them later.Those passersby who showed her kindness are still remembered, like the woman who was shopping with her children and when she saw Lisa sent her daughter back into the shop to buy her “everything - a sandwich, drink, crisps, dessert” and then when she was halfway down the street and saw another homeless person sent the child back into the shop to buy the same for them. But others were less kind, yelling at her and spitting at her, which she describes as “psychological trauma”. |
| 11.47pm GMT | 11.47pm GMT |
| 23:47 | 23:47 |
| Tonight we met... Trish, David and Radik | Tonight we met... Trish, David and Radik |
| Charlie Brinkhurst-Cuff | Charlie Brinkhurst-Cuff |
| Radik, 38, seems to have his life sorted as much as a homeless person can do. Unlike many other people sleeping rough, he takes all of his worldly possessions around with him - on his bike and trailer. | Radik, 38, seems to have his life sorted as much as a homeless person can do. Unlike many other people sleeping rough, he takes all of his worldly possessions around with him - on his bike and trailer. |
| I have a laptop, a tent because of the Scottish weather, a camping stove to make hot drinks, a sleeping bag, and a chair,” he says. | I have a laptop, a tent because of the Scottish weather, a camping stove to make hot drinks, a sleeping bag, and a chair,” he says. |
| Radik also has a cork board which he sets up as a makeshift table. “I need a chopping board too,” he adds. | Radik also has a cork board which he sets up as a makeshift table. “I need a chopping board too,” he adds. |
| Originally from Poland, he discovered biking after losing his job two years ago. Since then he’s biked all over the country, down to Liverpool, to London and this year, after doing a tour of Scotland, he even wants to head down to Cornwall. | Originally from Poland, he discovered biking after losing his job two years ago. Since then he’s biked all over the country, down to Liverpool, to London and this year, after doing a tour of Scotland, he even wants to head down to Cornwall. |
| I sleep far away from the city centre so my things don’t get stolen, and I never stay too long in the same place,” he adds. “For now I am happy,” says Radik, “I don’t want to be homeless forever but I need to make the best out of my situation.” | I sleep far away from the city centre so my things don’t get stolen, and I never stay too long in the same place,” he adds. “For now I am happy,” says Radik, “I don’t want to be homeless forever but I need to make the best out of my situation.” |
| Trish is sitting in the doorway of a typical tenement block in Edinburgh’s Grassmarket, minutes from the Cowgate, an area which was once so busy with homeless people in the 1980s the Guardian’s photographer calls it the ‘the homeless high street’.Her long brown hair is draped over her shoulder and she’s wrapped up in a warm, yellow knitted blanket. It’s past 9pm now and it’s getting colder. | Trish is sitting in the doorway of a typical tenement block in Edinburgh’s Grassmarket, minutes from the Cowgate, an area which was once so busy with homeless people in the 1980s the Guardian’s photographer calls it the ‘the homeless high street’.Her long brown hair is draped over her shoulder and she’s wrapped up in a warm, yellow knitted blanket. It’s past 9pm now and it’s getting colder. |
| I’ve only been back on the streets for a week,” she says. “I’m sleeping in a bin room behind this building, it stinks but it’s away from the elements.” | I’ve only been back on the streets for a week,” she says. “I’m sleeping in a bin room behind this building, it stinks but it’s away from the elements.” |
| Trish first experienced homelessness after the death of her young son, and says that she doesn’t really have any other family to turn to. She’s saving money by begging and adds that while the council hasn’t done much to help her, Edinburgh police are excellent. | Trish first experienced homelessness after the death of her young son, and says that she doesn’t really have any other family to turn to. She’s saving money by begging and adds that while the council hasn’t done much to help her, Edinburgh police are excellent. |
| The church is a major help too,” she says. “It’s difficult being a woman out on the streets because I don’t like staying in the shelters or hostels. They’re filled with pissed blokes who try and touch you up. It’s safer to take care of yourself.” | The church is a major help too,” she says. “It’s difficult being a woman out on the streets because I don’t like staying in the shelters or hostels. They’re filled with pissed blokes who try and touch you up. It’s safer to take care of yourself.” |
| Trish shows us round the back of the building where the bin room is. She’s right, it does smell, but the room is quite warm, dry and, I can imagine, a lot safer than some other places where she could spend the night. | Trish shows us round the back of the building where the bin room is. She’s right, it does smell, but the room is quite warm, dry and, I can imagine, a lot safer than some other places where she could spend the night. |
| Across the road from Trish is a man named David. Similarly, he also become homeless after the loss of a loved one. | Across the road from Trish is a man named David. Similarly, he also become homeless after the loss of a loved one. |
| My partner at the time, Dawn, she lost twins and I never really dealt with the emotional impact of it,” he says, shivering | My partner at the time, Dawn, she lost twins and I never really dealt with the emotional impact of it,” he says, shivering |
| He talks about his son, who’s 22 and whom he adores, and about how he sometimes comes to visit him. David, who usually sleeps in an alley near a club in the Cowgate, says that his son will come and tap him on the shoulder and ask him to come home with him. | He talks about his son, who’s 22 and whom he adores, and about how he sometimes comes to visit him. David, who usually sleeps in an alley near a club in the Cowgate, says that his son will come and tap him on the shoulder and ask him to come home with him. |
| He lives with his girlfriend and I don’t want to disturb their lives,” he says. | He lives with his girlfriend and I don’t want to disturb their lives,” he says. |
| I’d love to get a house and a dog, a border collie. I wouldn’t have one out on the streets though, it’s far too cold. Dogs need to be warm, safe and dry,” he says. | I’d love to get a house and a dog, a border collie. I wouldn’t have one out on the streets though, it’s far too cold. Dogs need to be warm, safe and dry,” he says. |
| Again, like many others have today, David brings up the problem with the definition of “intentionally homeless”. | Again, like many others have today, David brings up the problem with the definition of “intentionally homeless”. |
| I left accommodation and ran away to live in the hills for a few weeks because of mental health issues and couldn’t get rehoused because that’s how the council classified me,” he says. | I left accommodation and ran away to live in the hills for a few weeks because of mental health issues and couldn’t get rehoused because that’s how the council classified me,” he says. |
| That is just wrong.” | That is just wrong.” |
| Updated | Updated |
| at 12.39am GMT | |