The UK is a rich country yet all over our nation there are signs of homelessness. Walk down a city centre street in the early hours and you'll see people sleeping in shop doorways or crouched together in groups for safety.
This post isn't about the political choices that have fuelled the problem but about individuals and how they ended up on the streets or in homeless shelters. These points are based on stories told to me over the last year as I've been going out to help the homeless with food, drink and clothes, and just as important, someone to talk to and care.
One of the first things you notice is the high number of people under 30 who have been released from short term prison sentences directly on to the streets or into homeless shelters. These are people who lost their homes because they went to prison or were homeless before they got sent down. Usually their crimes were shoplifting or drug related and they are in an endless cycle of life on the streets or in prison. Even if they manage to get clean in prison they are dumped back into a place where temptation is everywhere as drug dealers target the homeless. I'm not saying all young people on the streets are ex prisoners but we can now spot them very quickly when they come up to us.
These are not bad people but people who have found themselves in a bad place. Not once while we have been going out have we had any abuse from any of the people we help.
Another group we see are people with mental health illnesses or learning difficulties, people unable to cope with life. Some lost their homes after being sectioned or were unable to run a household without support. Others lost jobs and fell into depression and lost everything, the house, the holidays abroad all gone. On the streets their illness often just gets worse and illegal drugs or drink can become an issue and a barrier for them to regain their old life back. Into this group I should add ex servicemen who have left the forces and been unable to cope, amongst the people we meet it's not often we met an ex squaddie.
I've mentioned drugs and it is a common claim by people that all homeless are smackheads or drunks but we have found that isn't the case. There are many people on the street that don't do drugs or spend all their time drunk. Yes we have seen people on drugs and we have also met recovering addicts who are on treatment projects such as methadone as they take steps to try and get their life back after losing everything. This weekend gone we had a former addict who has got himself clean and move into his own flat but it's taken 3 years of waiting for him to get it.
The final people I'll mention is those broken by life, those with the heartbreaking stories of loss. Unable to keep going after the loss of family they lose everything else in their life and end up on the street. Sometimes they will tell us their story, other times we hear it from others as their connection to reality is fragile still. The homeless community is on the whole tight knit and they do care for each other so these people are looked after as best they can.
If we have sleeping bags to give out, only those on the street will take them. We have found these people to be amongst the nicest people we've ever met and it's a privilege that they have accepted us into their community and when we go out we are met with real warmth and friendship by them. If the have good news they are eager to share it with us or if one of our regulars has got into trouble or is in hospital they let us know.
Like I said at the top of this, I'm not going in to how policies cause homelessness but without telling specific details on individuals, who people have ended up on the streets.
Thanks for reading.
