Stuart discusses the viscious cycle of homelessness and the challenges many people face when seeking support.
Saving People Shelter Project. Stuart speaking.
I mean, if he was on here and he is vulnerable, I’d look after him and all that. I look after many people myself anyway.
I’ve got six people in my own place here. I’ve got a few in the caravan, I’ve got a caravan at the side of the house. And I’ve got a pensioner on my couch and a couple of other people staying with me at the minute. ‘Til I get them sorted out.
I run a project. I’ve been doing it since about 2016/17 or something,
First started it off after I’d become homeless myself.
Started commandeering buildings, putting homeless people in them because the council wasn’t doing their jobs.
I was sick of seeing people on the streets.
All right. No problem. All right. Take care. God bless. Bye bye.
Sometimes the phone don’t stop. Can range from zero in a day to fifty in a day.
—
When I first called all the councils, no one wanted to talk at all. No one picked up. So I found his number on the internet and his profile picture’s just a bit scary.
I’m the youngest here and I’m the only girl here, but I’m comfortable with everyone. I’m not scared. They’re always looking after me, always making sure I’m okay and always giving me good advice.
My dad and my uncle are fighting so I was supposed to stay with him,
but he threw me out. I was born in Benin, but I grew up in Germany my whole life. Because I don’t have my EU settlement and I’m not a citizen, I’m a bit stuck here. I can’t do anything. This month’s going to be the fifth month.
—
We’ll, Sanni and Earnest normally stay on this part of the couch there. If anybody else needs to stay on this one here, sometimes. And if it gets too cold, obviously there’s floor space.
And Ronald stays on here. He’s a pensioner now. He shouldn’t be in this situation, it’s completely bonkers.
His mam passed away and he then moved back into his mam and dad’s old house. Because his dad wasn’t well, he had dementia. And because his dad owned his own house, that then got sold from under his feet bviously to pay for his care, which then made Ronald homeless.
So he’s come to us, he’s got no national insurance number, he doesn’t know what his national insurance number is. He hasn’t got a bank account. Soon as his benefits are sorted out, hopefully with any luck, touch wood, he’ll get an over-55s property.
Kitchen facilities. I try and do big meals, big bulky meals. What we can all eat. It’s cheaper that way as well. It’s hard sometimes obviously. I’m only on benefits myself, and most people here can’t get any money. So I’ve got to get the stuff in then haven’t I. It’s me who’s going to have to pay for it.
I’ve got six people here at the moment, I’ve got three in the caravan, one on an alternate shift because one does nights, so he uses the bed in the daytime.
We alright looking in here a sec?
This is the caravan. So that turns into a double bed that does. That gentleman’s on that double bed at the moment. He’d like to remain anonymous though I think. But I’ve got him somewhere sorted now. He’s now moving a week today. So he’ll be sorted end of next week.
That bed will become available then. And it’s warm in here anyway. It’s warmer than outside innit, so.
When somebody’s sorted out, it’s good innit. The look on somebody’s face is priceless. No money could buy that. You know what I mean. It’s nice.
—
There’s not many people I know that will open their heart out,
and their home, like Stu. There’s not many people I know. And if they did, it wouldn’t be as a nice setting.
Here you haven’t got as many influences because we’re different age groups, different ethnic groups. So I think it’s the fact that we we all know we don’t want to be in that situation and we’re all desperate.
I was sleeping in Manchester town centre, outside Primark, my anxiety and depression is through the roof. With the trust issues and anxiety issues, all I do to try and get rid of that is smoke weed. And that just makes it worse the next day, and the next day, and the next day, and it’s-
Vicious circle isn’t it.
Yeah, I want to get out of the cycle. Going to prison, using drugs. Going out, stealing for drugs, blah blah blah. I want to get out of that type of life. I want to stress free life.
This time I’ve been told though I’m entitled to a bond scheme. They’ll pay so much deposit and so much rent in advance for you to move into somewhere. So I just need to find a private let..It’s just finding a private landlord that accepts that bond scheme.
There’s not many people that accept them. At all. Especially if you’re in a predicament.
—
You’re already homeless, you’re an ex-con you know, you’re a drug-user. You’re this, that, and the other. No one’s going to help you.
You know what I mean, it’s not going to happen is it.Get people going past people what are on the streets, saying, ‘Look at him, spicehead,
baghead, crackhead’. He doesn’t want to be like that, does he? Nobody wan’t to sit there like that, rocking their head off waiting for their next fix.
Nobody on earth wants that. You know what I mean.
Something’s pushed them to that, you know what I mean. I was sick of it when I was going through it. So I know how everybody’s – what are in here with me now – are going through, because I’ve been there anyway.
Obviously some of their situations are different I mean mine was hard enough getting out of that hole. Mine was just pure luck that the lady let me have this place. Otherwise, I’d still be in the same position as them, I’d be squatting a building right now.
Sometimes it’s stressful obviously because keep hitting the same brick walls so, you know what I mean. You think, I’ve been here before with this same conversation, the same person on the other end of the phone who’s just going off a computer – computer says no, computer says yes.
All these different categories what people fall in, it should be a blanket thing shouldn’t it – if you’re homeless, you’re homeless. That’s it. The be all and end all of it innit.
Not, ‘Are you over the age of 25?’, ‘Are you under the age of 35?’ Or, ‘Are you black? You white? You pink? You purple?’ You know, ‘What religion?’
Well, what’s it matter?
I had my own business. I had the wife. The three kids at the time. Car. We was doing well. Nice four-bedroomed house. You know what I mean. Couldn’t have asked for anything better.
Anything can turn to shit in an instance. Just ‘cause somebody is homeless or going through a hard time it doesn’t mean they’re a bad person.
I mean, it could be you one day.
