Kelly & Co

Kelly is featured here with her 'street family' which includes her brother to the left and front, her boyfriend is lying behind her, to her right is a friend and an Eastern European immigrant woman who has received 'several random street beatings', which - according to Kelly - were totally unprovoked and unwarranted and quite severe; the facial bruises were quite visible. I told Kelly she was one of few female street sleepers I have been able to interview and the first one that will feature on the blog. So I took the opportunity of allowing her to lead on the message content.

She told me that she and her boyfriend have been together for over 5 years yet are unable to be accommodated in hostels as a couple. Recently she had been turfed out of a local hostel and black listed for smuggling him into her room. The pet is also another challenge. Kelly is a heroine addict who wants support to dry out. She has been given the 'impossible task' of having to present herself dry to take up services then be given a script to adhere to of good and worthy conduct - before she can be granted a government detox programme. Suffice to say, to date, Kelly has found this impossible.

She is rumoured to have had a physical altercation in her last hostel which also led to her black-listing, one where the dog accidentally got embroiled in the scuffles - her domestic situation simply wont be accommodated within Dorset consequently - since all local hostels have been forewarned not to attempt to house her.

The nurturing nature of women often translates to them coming with dependants and loved ones - we often wont move in isolation. For women, homelessness is both threatening and complex to navigate. Many of the women I have spoken to tell tails of domestic violence which generated the original and on-going domestic turbulence. However complex the situation is - the fact still remains that homelessness for women comes with the added threat of violence - sexual and domestic - and addiction or mental health issues often accompany the story - yet the need is real and acute. The life of the female homeless is one none of us should experience or tolerate.

Ed & Jack

Talking to Ed is an education, and there's never enough time. Ed will have me wanting to whip a notepad out and wonder why he's not running for local election. Ed is an excellent example of the free tinker nature of the typical rough sleeper that I admire so. 

He filled me in on the historical rights of settlement, devised by British government centuries ago; these same laws make it mandatory to maintain a common and free strip of land between County borders where common folk have a right to settle. Therefore the way the homeless are harassed and barred from loitering anywhere is technically un-lawful. Ed is free and Ed is proud, he hasn't 'bought into the system'. He is fully aware of his own rights and of the myriad of ways the economy and government tunes in and tunes out of issues based on potential profitability. He questions their persistent pestering of the displaced in the light of their failure to get on top of the far worse threat of addiction and the whole drugs industry. He attributes the recent railing on the local homeless to an over all agenda to gentrify Bournemouth and protect the interest of the lucrative Sandbanks real estate empire, sporting some of the most expensive properties in the Country. In a nutshell - visible rough sleepers "aint a good look."

The key ingredient to the life of the homeless is to be able to re-define personal values and interpretations - to literally think outside the "media box" - take an independent look at personal circumstances and how they occurred. When the system lets you down - you need to question that very system and the part you are willing to play in it. 

Ed is part of a rent deposit scheme - when he is ready to secure his own place he wont be settling in Bournemouth though - this is because he has not agreed with the local politics that have made him feel so unwelcome. Ed is diagnosed with 'border-line personality' but receives no real support with managing life's demands. He copes well, but it all raises questions about how we value individuality and how much currency tends to dictate what can and can't be done and how much commitment there is locally to consistent social welfare.

Stuart - Homeless for 2 years

Stuart became homeless when he fell in to rent arrears. He has now been on the streets for over 2 years. Like many others, he is on countless waiting lists and continues to wait. He camps in a tent in Horseshoe common and waits. By day he sells/displays his hand made dolls for a living.

Though when I met him at around noon he had been 'trading'all morning and hadn't raised as much as £1 yet - I guess the locals were following the government directives like good citizens and, instead of giving, thought the better of it. But unfortunately it is what many, like Stuart, rely on. After all two years of waiting for services - needs to be funded somehow.

Interestingly enough as I stood speaking with Stuart - about three men passed by as he was pitched at the church entrance - some on their way in, some on their way out.....but none stopped to contribute. If the poor can't receive charity at the doors of church, it's a dim outlook for them in general.

When I asked Stuart what he thought about recent Council initiatives towards the homeless he agreed that the consistent message seems one to drive them out. He used to be able to use the night shelter, but this Winter offers no such respite.

Support us on foot or on-line by signing this growing petition - we aim to submit it mid-October, in time for this Winter's Shelter....You can sign my petition by clicking here.