Homelessness In Portsmouth

TUESDAY 17^th JANUARY. Tonight we met no new homeless people, we met up with PHIL, MARK, TINNY, LEE, PAUL, MAC, SEAN, CHRIS and JAMIE

Tonight I had the company of my work colleague, Tracey. She was interested in coming out with me as I told her and other people that it is good for people to see how well we do for ourselves compared to others. Tracey agreed with me.

This sort of work will not make you rich but you will feel rich within yourself for doing this. I always have an amazing feeling when out with the homeless people I meet, they all now have a lot of trust in me and pay me a lot of respect. They are also very polite and helpful, Jamie and Chris have both offered to help me sort out all of the clothes donations that I have in my garage, they feel that they want to repay for what I have done for them, such lovely lads and also Tinny has offered to come out with me in the evenings so he can protect me from unsavoury characters, how sweet.

Tinny has also said that he would sent people my way if they offer donations of food as he said I (and my helpers) do a wonderful thing and when/if he ever sorts himself out then he will be doing this kind of work himself.

I ordered 12 pairs of thermal long johns and 12 thermal t shirts, 36 pairs of boxer shorts and 12 pairs of fingerless gloves yesterday from a wholesale website on the internet and they delivered today. I had a little bit of money put aside that people had given and I put my loose change from my copper jar into the bank and was able to but all this. It was only £75.00 all together so I was very happy with the amount of stuff I had got for the little money that I had. If I had more money then I would of got more bits for the homeless but I can only just about afford to live myself due to the increasing prices of everything and no extra money coming in. Petrol is becoming a pain too.

Anyway, our first stop was the seafront to see Phil and Mark, they now have a big plastic sheet covering the shelter they are in, and in fact they both looked pretty cosy. Tracey and I stayed for a while and had a chat with them. We gave them rolls, soup and the usual stuff and also they needed more trousers and jumpers. They were over the moon with the thermals, they said they were going to wash themselves down with baby wipes then get into their new stuff. I told Phil that he had the biggest bath in the world just the other side of the road but he refused ha ha.. I was talking about the sea. We moved onto the hard and spoke with Lee and tinny.

Lee was diving in the back of my car trying to take the best pic , I have been told that he has a wife, 3 bedroom house and 3 kids and a few people have told me this. I asked him to move out of the way so I could get out the food, I didn’t want him taking things so that he could sell them. I gave Tinny new thermals and underwear and wrapped them up in a hoodie so that Lee couldn’t see.

I want these clothes to go to people that really need them, they have to sleep on the streets, and Lee can go home to his new 50 inch television that he tells everyone about. I never let Lee know that I know this about him just in case he gets aggressive. No sign of Jamie or Chris so we went down Osborne road to feed and clothe Paul and Mac, Mac was off his head alcohol/ drugs, I don’t know but he does like to talk. When we finished we went to Albert road but there was no one about. I phoned Sean to see if he was ok and he was. He was down by the hostel, we arranged to go down to see him. When we approached Sean he appeared very drunk, I have never seen him like this before.

He was very sad, just had the news today that his brother is going to have his leg amputated, (due to self-neglect), so Sean decided to get drunk, I gave him a cuddle which he said was needed. Tracey and I stayed with him a while and he had cheered up thankfully. He was actually really funny drunk, I walked him across the road as he was wobbling all over the place then we went back to the hard. We decided to go back to see if Chris and Jamie had turned up of which they did.

We had run out of food but Chris had just bought some chips, I gave Jamie £2 and asked him to go get something hot whilst I was there, and he did bless him, he was starving. We gave him a jumper and some underwear but I ran out of thermals in his size so I told him I will get him some for Thursday. We gave Chris some thermals, he too was very pleased with these. When we finished sorting these 2 out we decided to drive round a little but found no more homeless people. We then decided to call it a night so I drove Tracey home then went back to my house to unload the car. Had bath and bed… Knackered and very cold.

Tracy with Tinny

First stop this evening was on the seafront to see Phil and Mark. We filled a flask for them both at home full of tea, Phil gave me a flask on Tuesday to fill. We gave them socks and trousers and tee shirt, also rolls, crisps, cake, biscuits and soup. I must admit, they both looked pretty cosy in their new sleeping quarters. Phil was telling me that he was adopted by his mother’s sister when he was a little boy, his mother couldn’t cope .Phil hasn’t had a very good life, always felt unwanted. He also said that he is always telling people how helpful I am and how thankful he is for all that we do for him, this touched my heart as it was a lovely thing for him to say.

We moved onto the hard and found Tinny, we stopped and had a little chat with him, he is finding it difficult to find somewhere to sleep at the moment as the police keep moving him on, poor soul.         We carried onto Osborne road to see Paul, we gave him food and underwear then went onto Albert Road to find Sean and Geoff. We met Geoff on 13^th December, he was hanging around with Phil at the hard on that day, I remember so well as he didn’t look homeless as his hair was gelled back and he looked smart. Seeing him this evening, he was in a bad way, kept saying that he is killing himself with alcohol but can’t kick the habit as it is all he has. He was crying, was so heart breaking to see a man cry like that. We offered him comfort and food. He still had the big jacket on that I gave him back in December. If he wasn’t homeless back then, he is now. I tried all I could to calm him down and by the time we finished with him he had at least stopped crying.                                                      Sean seemed a bit low this evening, asked him what was wrong and he said he got into a bit of a scuffle this evening back at the hostel. Liam noticed he had a cut across his Knuckles and was bleeding, this was caused by the fight he just had. Liam went into the shop that Sean was sat outside of and bought some hand gel for Sean so his hand doesn’t get infected.

We had a text message from Jamie saying that he was staying with a friend tonight along with Chris, we met up with them both and gave them some food etc and had a lovely chat with them.                We drove around some more but found no one else so we made our way home.

Liam and Harriet came out with me tonight, and it turned out to be a busy one at that. We started at the hard interchange and met up with Jamie, he was playing his guitar. Liam gave him his Guitar pegs that he promised him, he even wrapped them up bless him. Jamie was very pleased as his ones had seen better days, he also needed more clothes and underwear, we also gave him some food. Jamie told us that it is his birthday on Sunday so I said I will try and come see him if I get a chance. Chris was not around tonight Jamie told us so we carried on round the bus station but no one else about. Just as we pass Jamie again tinny came running to the road to wave us down, we stopped and gave him some food and a jumper, he looks so much better than he did a couple of weeks ago, said he felt much better too. Once we finished chatting to tinny we headed straight to the hot walls in old Portsmouth to see Phil. As we pulled up we saw the police were there, Liam said should we stay in the car until they go and I said no just in case they were moving him on. As we walked towards Phil’s spot we noticed another 2 gentlemen, Mark and Jonathon. Mark was from Newcastle and had been homeless for several years on and off and Jonathon was just travelling around the country and sleeping where ever he could. Mark was a very well-spoken and intelligent individual. He said he doesn’t stay at hostels as you still have to pay money towards the rent and not everyone has money. The police were questioning Phil and he was getting quite upset as they were trying to move them on. I asked the policeman what the problem was and why have they got to move on, Phil and the others were in no one’s way and not causing a disturbance, the policeman said that the people living in the flats opposite have complained. He seemed to have a stinking rude matter about him to start with. He told Phil to move and Phil refused so the policeman said he would have to arrest him, Phil’s reply was “do it, I need somewhere warm to sleep tonight and if I smash the windows of the court then you will have to lock me up throughout winter, at least ill have a home then”. I went over and spoke to the policewoman, she was lovely and very understanding. Speaking with Mark, I asked if he could try talking some sense into Phil, and he did. As Phil and Mark were chatting the policeman came over and spoke with me, saying that he didn’t realise I was helping these people off my own back and he has a lot of gratitude and respect for me for doing this(he had been talking to Liam ). This was a lovely thing for him to say, then I said that Phil had so much stuff to carry, he’s no youngster, can’t he stay where he is. With that the policeman got on his radio and arranged for a police car to assist Phil, Jonathon and mark to move on by taking their belongings to the next stop. As far as I know, Mark said they were going to head for the bowling green on the seafront where there is shelter. The police turned out to be very helpful and I do understand that they were only doing their job. I gave all 3 some hot soup and a bag of sandwiches, crisps and biscuits and the police said they can finish eating first before they move on. I told Phil, Mark and Jonathon that I would look for them next week. I also asked Phil where John had gone to as he was with him last week, he said that he has gone to look after a friend of his as he was dying of cancer, how lovely of him. When we finished with them we went to Osborne road, we stopped and gave food and clothes to Mac, someone he knows stole the wheels off his bike and put old ones back on?? Think he was very drunk today as he wasn’t making much sense ha ha, bless him. We went down the road a little to find that Paul was back, he said that it didn’t work out in London so he decided to come back to Portsmouth. We fed and gave him clothes that he needed. We then went to Albert road and spoke with Ian, he was telling us that he and his brother had been staying with a friend of theirs for a few nights over the Christmas period and they woke one morning to find that their friend had died in his sleep. Ian was in shock so I asked him to tell me if he needs counselling as I will sort this out for him, he replied saying he would let me know. I had also got a coat for Ian as his last one was ruined from the tomato soup that was thrown over him the other day, he was chuffed to bits and gave me a big cuddle, such a sweet boy. We went down the road a bit once we finished dealing with Ian and met up with Sean, he had someone else with him called Faz. Faz is from Romania, he came to England after travelling around Europe and decided to settle here as he found a girlfriend, I asked why he was on the streets and he said that his 5 month pregnant girlfriend has been in prison for 6 weeks and is due out Tuesday and since she has been away he has had nowhere to live. He had nothing but the clothes he was wearing, we kitted him out with clothes, food and also a sleeping bag, he gave Liam and myself lots of kisses and cuddles, I thought this was so sweet. Sean looked fed up, think he was tiring of his company ha ha. We have now ran out of supplies so we headed home knowing that we had to bring more supplies next week.

Yet another busy evening, Di and I headed straight for the Hard but we decided to go along the seafront first to see if there was any sign of Phil and his friends. We parked up outside the bowling green and walked about towards the tennis courts which are situated just behind the green. I heard music so we followed the sounds and there we found Phil and Mark in one of the shelters beside the green. They both looked comfortable considering the weather and their homeless situation. They both wanted coffee, soup, food and clothes, Di and I went to the car to fetch all that they needed. Phil was telling us that the policeman last week bought him some tobacco and walked with him to where they are now to ensure he got there ok. Phil was so surprised to of had this kindness from someone in authority. Phil and Mark were saying that they need some kind of plastic sheeting to keep the rain off as they weren’t completely covered from the rain, they said if it rains they have to shelter down by the war memorial across the other side of the green. Ill remember this if I cant get any plastic sheeting. When we finished with phil and Mark we went to see, Chris, Tinny, Lee and Jamie at the hard. Chris and Jamie were telling me not to get sucked in by Lee as he is married, has 3 children and lives in a 3 bedroom house. I appreciated this knowledge as Lee led us to believe that he was homeless and he told us this too. I still gave him clothes that he wanted as I didn’t want him to know that we knew about his marriage and kids etc. We didn’t want to cause any trouble for the others either as Lee comes across as a bit of an intimidating character. Poor Jamie didn’t want to take to much as he thought it was greedy, I told him to take what he needs as I have plenty of supplies at home. Jamie is so lovely and genuine, same as Chris. I gave him some Guitar strings that Liam asked me to give him, he was over the moon. We finished sorting these lads out with bits and pieces and went to Osborne road to see Paul then we went to Albert road where we found Ian and his friends. We were starting to run low on food again once we gave Ian his so had to give what we had left to Ian’s friends to share. I think they were all pretty drunk and seemed to be on drugs, I could be wrong but they weren’t in the same world as us. Danny was telling us that he has just got out of prison for having £10 worth of heroin on him, he served 3 years. His girlfriend was killed down Albert road as she crossed it by a police car, Danny saw this happen and is still suffering the pain of losing her a few years ago. The policeman who ran her over spent 3 years in prison, the same as Danny got for being in possession of a little heroin, Where’s the justice he asked!!. Lisa was not quite with it but Neil was looking after her, we gave them hats, gloves, sleeping bag and other stuff to see them through. I told Lisa I would sort out some clothes that fit her for next week and I would bring her dog some food for her dog. Neil was so grateful that he kept kissing and cuddling Di and myself. So sweet. Down the same road we met Jimmy, we gave him the rest of the coffee that we had and fortunately he didn’t want any food. We had run out. Will bring even more supplies next time as it’s starting to become busy at nights with more and more homeless people.

A little bit about me first

Firstly I have never written anything like this before so please forgive me if it isn’t very professional it’s all from the heart
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My name is Jenette Mace; I am 41 years of age. I have 3 lovely children, Amber-lee 22, Lewis 21 and Liam 18 and also have a beautiful grandson, (Amber’s son) Bailey. I know you are probably thinking, my god she was young but I can honestly say that Amber is the best mother to Bailey, she was very young but if you were ever to meet Bailey you would understand what I mean, I am so very proud of her, she works as a community care worker, attends college twice weekly studying hairdressing and works in a hairdressing salon on a Saturday so as you can imagine, she has a lot to contend with as she is also a single parent.

Lewis and Liam I am also very proud of, Lewis is at Portsmouth University doing a photography degree and Liam is at Southdown’s College studying sport, he wants to be a P.E teacher. I have been a single parent myself for most of my children’s lives and I can say it was a real struggle but I think I did a good job with them
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I have been in the care industry since I was 17 years of age, I have done other jobs, bar work, bar manager, petrol pump assistant, worked in restaurants and cafes so as you can see I have done many things.

I have always enjoyed my work as a care support worker, I have worked for my current employer, Echoes Community care for over 9 years now and was made a community team supervisor about 6 years ago but I did say that I would still like to do my regular care visits to my usual ladies as I enjoy a more hands on type of work and I get a sense of fulfilment as I make these people’s lives a little more comfortable.

Even though I fully enjoy my work I have had an empty void in my life but I am unable to do my lifelong dream as I am most certainly not financially able to do so. My ambition and dream is to work in third world countries to look after the very poor and dying/ill children and adults, 4 months away then 6 months home then 4 months away again etc. I feel that I could make a difference to people’s lives and that is what I feel I am here to do. Now that my children are old enough I thought that I would get an action plan together and try to make my dream reality. I have worked other jobs around my full time job at echoes. On average I work about 50 hours a week and I have managed to do a Saturday market stall selling handbags, delivered Chinese meals for a local restaurant 4 times weekly and I also do an Avon round.

Even with the extra work that I was doing I still could not save the monies that I needed to work in third world countries, firstly I would need the airfare and money to survive whilst in another country and I would still need to pay my bills and rent at home whilst I’m away. It seems that every month I need to pay for repair on the car or an extra bill comes in etc., just as I get a little bit of extra money it goes out on something else, believe me I will keep trying but I can’t see much happening in the near future, I expect this is the same for a majority of the population in these financially difficult times so I thought of something else I could do for my own community.

It suddenly occurred to me whilst in Portsmouth town centre that I could put my heart into doing something locally, and then I noticed a young homeless lad begging for money and sleeping rough.

        DI AND MYSELF, I HAVE THE SHORT DARK HAIR

            

 On Wednesday 23^rd November 2011, after weeks of dedicated organising and collection of clothing, myself and my friend, Diane Martin (my manager at echoes) walked around the streets of Portsmouth looking for homeless people, we found 6 gentleman. The weather wasn’t too bad, was quite mild and dry.

WEDNESDAY 23^rd NOVEMBER: We met PHIL, BOB, IAN, TINNY, JIM and DATTS 

We stopped and spoke to them and offered them clothing of which I had in the car: coats, duvets, blankets, trousers, jumpers. Sweatshirts, food etc. they were so pleased that they had new clothes and bedding, one gentleman was so excited that he was almost in tears, his nick name was tinny as he looked like tin tin the cartoon character, he slept around the hard interchange area, very sweet guy, I asked Tinny what sort of things he needs and his response was “the simple things in life, a small radio, thermal cup, and socks and pants”. Tinny has been on the streets for about 9 years, he had a good friend but unfortunately for him he died during a fit that tinny had witnessed, he said that he was walking past his flat and noticed he left a window open so tinny climbed through like he often did and went into the bedroom where his friend was sleeping, he told him he was there and was going to sleep on his lounge floor if that was ok. Tinny then heard a noise coming from his friends bedroom so he rushed in to find him having one of his regular fits, tinny put him in the recovery position and sat with him until the fit was over, apparently his friend had regular fits and was nothing out of the norm. Tinny went back to sleep and a couple of hours later he felt something wasn't right, so with that he went to check his friend and found he was dead. This upset tinny greatly and I said I would seek counselling for him if he wanted it. We also met Bob and Phil at the same place asleep on benches, they did sit up and chat with us for a short while, in fact Bob (aged 74) gave us a loaf of bread as he had a spare loaf, I did tell him we were supposed to feeding him, not the other way round, Bob was  ex-army. We then went down to Albert road where we met Ian and Jim, Ian has a twin brother who was keeping his door way safe for when Ian got back from begging and Jim was an ex-Marine who has hit by very hard times since leaving the forces. We then carried on with our car journey and then went by foot down Palmeston road where we found a coloured man sleeping in a door way, we never got his name that evening but later discovered his name was Datts and he told us that he was in need of nothing at that time. Di and I got home around 12.40 am.

These men were no ordinary men, most of them ex marines/army/navy. It was so sad to hear the lives they had before and the lives they have now, why do some people look down on the homeless, they were like us at one time in their lives with homes and families, now they have nothing but the rags they have on and the floor space where they sleep.

DI WITH 2 OF OUR HOMELESS GENTLEMAN AT THE HARD INTERCHANGE, PORTSMOUTH

TUESDAY 29^rd NOVEMBER 2011: We met 4 new people, LORRAINE, SEAN, GORDON and CHRIS, and also spoke to PHIL again.

The weather was chilly but dry.

Di and myself had collected more bits and pieces of which included soup, crisps, biscuits etc. we went back out to the streets of Portsmouth to visit the gentleman that we previously met and give them some more clothes and this time hot soup, filled rolls and various other snacks, they had a nice little feast that night and again were very grateful. A local bakery gave us there left over sandwiches/rolls at the end of the day and we gave this to our homeless friends as well .We also met another 4 people that evening, one being a young woman. Before we got started we went to a local hostel (mill house) that we were told about to offer them some of what we had but they said they could only take blankets, they were running very low on blankets and don’t give clothes to the homeless .The hostel workers said that they only have 8 beds of which were only for the most vulnerable and do a meal at 9pm for whoever turns up. We gave them the blankets that we had as the homeless people said that it`s too much for them to carry around with them during the day. The hostel volunteer’s go out late at night with blankets to give to those that need them. Di and myself keep the lightest smallest ones for the street sleepers to have. We met Lorraine that evening that stayed at the hostel on a regular basis as she was classed as vulnerable because she was a woman. She was quite a loud character asking me if I had designer branded clothes and any ugg boots, we just told her we only had what was in the car if it was any use, she never took anything. We went then down to the hard interchange to see if any of the guys from the previous time were there, the only person was Phil, and we had a chat with him and gave him bits and pieces. Phil was living with his girlfriend but she drank too much and was constantly wetting herself where she was in such a bad drunken state so Phil decided to get a flat of his own as he couldn’t put up with this anymore. When he moved into his new home he decided to take in a lodger to help pay the rent and the bills, this turned out to be a big mistake as his lodger had blew all his electrics and caused a fire. Phil was rehoused and then got another lodger and again another fatal mistake, this lodger repeatedly beat him up and stole from him so Phil left. This time the council would not rehouse him so he ended up sleeping rough at the hard interchange on a bench and when the police moved him he would sleep on the beach. Phil has been homeless for 6 months, he is in his 50s so I don’t know how he will cope in the winter as he hasn’t been homeless in the cold as yet. I asked Phil if he would consider staying in a hostel and he said he has been offered and tried it but it was too loud and was full of drunk and drug induced people, this frightened Phil a bit so he said he wouldn’t go to this place again. We also met Chris at the hard that evening, he was a big issue worker, we gave him food and clothes, had a little problem with trousers though as he was so tall but we did what we could. After chatting with Phil and chris I drove to a car park near commercial road and walked through the town centre with Di, we met a gentleman called Gordon, his story was so sad. His son died at the young age of 23, he was out drinking with his friends and then they all ended up at the bowling green along southsea seafront. Gordon’s son fell asleep on the steps there and never woke, coroner said it was alcohol poisoning. Because of this Gordon turned to drink himself as he couldn’t cope with life as it was without his son, he was married and had other children and used to try and hide the fact that he was drinking but it was obvious to his family that he was. His wife rejected him from the family home and he ended up sleeping rough wherever he could get his head down, she then filed for divorce. Gordon said that he is not classed as homeless by the authorities as he goes home on the occasional weekend when his ex-wife allows, just to see his other children. When we finished in commercial road we went down to Albert road and met a man called Sean, again a lovely chap, we fed and clothed him also.


   

PHIL ASLEEP ON HIS BENCH TRYING TO SLEEP AND KEEP WARM

  THURSDAY 1^ST DECEMBER: We met 3 new people, JAY, PAUL AND LEE, we also spoke with PHIL, DATTS and SEAN.

The weather was very wet and cold.

This was a busy day for me as I had the evening news (a local paper) come to my place of work to take a photograph of Di and myself so they could do a story on our homeless help and also my son ,Liam and myself were meeting a reporter from radio Solent at the Hard interchange that evening. Di was unable to help so Liam kindly offered. We met up with Simon who wanted to shadow with us for the evening so he get some insight into what I was doing. I emailed a lot of people and businesses but this radio station was the only one that was interested our plea for clothes and food donations at the time.  Simon said he had a really enjoyable evening and said it opened his eyes to the homeless situation, he managed to interview 2 homeless gentleman, Lee and Phil who said they were willing to talk, we gave clothes and food and met another 3 new gentleman .Lee came from up north and has been homeless on and off for several years, usually woman problems he said and not being able to find work, he stayed at the hard sometimes and elsewhere where it is quiet. We stopped and had a chat with Phil also whilst we were there, I was a bit worried about Tinny as I hadn’t seen him around or Bob but apparently someone paid for Bob to stay at a bed and breakfast for a short time as the weather was getting cold and wet, as for Tinny, no one knew where he was , all Phil knew was that Tinny was unwell and hasn’t seen him for about a week. We went onto Osborne road after and met Paul, he lost his home through a fire and was made unemployed, the poor bloke had no insurance so he lost everything, and he said he has friends that put him up occasionally but had to sleep in doorways. Paul also told me that there was another young man just down the road who needed some clothing and food so we headed down to find him once we finished sorting out bedding, clothes and food for Paul. I got out of the car and introduced myself and offered him clothing and food of which he accepted with great thanks. We walked round to Palmerston road and met Datts, he actually needed food this time so I was pleased to of helped him,  he was very happy to meet us and was so thankful it nearly made me cry , im not sure too much on Datts story as I couldn’t understand a lot of what he was saying, he spoke too fast and with an accent and  I thought it rude of me if I asked him to repeat himself, I did recognise it when he was saying how the lord is looking over me and keeping me safe and he also mentioned how nice it was having a young boy helping instead of them walking past and kicking, shouting abuse and spitting on him. Simon told me he was not sure what to expect that night but he was pleasantly surprised.

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FRIDAY 2^nd DECEMBER 2011.

Phone call from radio Solent asking if I would go on the drive time show at 5.12 that same afternoon. I said yes as I thought this would help to get donations from the public for clothes and food. I also thought that it would good to let listeners know that these homeless people are real people who once were part of society just like you and I and are not all what people think, drinkers and/or drug users, these are very unfortunate people who have taken the wrong path in life or have had to live the way they do because of financial crisis.

MONDAY 3^rd DECEMBER 2011

Di and I were asked to meet a reporter in Portsmouth for 07.30. We were to be live on radio Solent talking about our homeless plea. Simons edited report from Thursday was on first then we were put on to speak to Julian Clegg live. There were a lot of listeners and we were very nervous but I think we got our point across about how much help is needed to help the homeless. Since the radio show we have had so much response and donations, it’s been great, we now have enough clothes and food supplies to help us carry on with our homeless campaign throughout the winter months and people are sending in regular food supplies, so thank you to all those that have helped with this.

SOME OF THE FOOD DONATED FROM RADIO LISTENERS

Also a lady from radio solent asked me if it was ok if she wrote a story on our homeless help and put it on the BBC web page, I said this would be fine and this is what she done….


Portsmouth woman helps homeless




Jenette Mace (Left) has also enlisted the help of her manager, Diane Martin







TUESDAY 6^th DECEMBER: We met up with our regular homeless including TINNY. The evening was extremely cold.

Di and I started our evening by visiting the hostel, Mill house and giving them some heavy blankets and duvets. We then went on our usual route and did our thing. Tinny was in his usual spot but didn’t look at all well, he said he had pleurisy and had been given anti-biotics by a Dr from the homeless shelter centre point. Tinny was told that if he gets any worse then he must get to the hospital. We gave tinny the thermos cup that he was in need of and extra bedding, clothes, underwear and food. We went over and spoke to Phil and Chris and gave them what they were in need of also. I made sure they had enough bedding as it was so bitterly cold. I asked Phil where Bob was as I haven’t seen him, last Phil told me was that he was put up in a bed and breakfast. Phil said he has been back since but was taken away by ambulance a couple of days ago as he was having chest pains. Di and I carried on our journey and saw Paul, Ian and Sean. Speaking to Ian that evening he told us about how he and his brother ended up homeless. Their father was diagnosed with cancer when they were 14 years old, their mother needed help looking after him so they did almost everything to make their dads life comfortable, he died 7 years later when the boys were 21, then their mother packed her bags and moved abroad leaving Ian and his brother to fend for themselves, they couldn’t pay the rent as they weren’t working, they had no qualifications as they weren’t at school much as they were looking after their father so basically they ended up homeless at the age of 21, still homeless now at the age of 31. Their mother is aware of their situation but is not bothered. Ian also said that there are some vile people about, 1 group of boys/men stood around him and his brother whilst they were sleeping and urinated all over their duvets and clothes. Other occasion’s people spit on them and kick them. Ian said they are used to this sort of abuse but surely they shouldn’t have to put up with this.

THURSDAY 8^th DECEMBER: We met up with some of our usual guys and met 1 new man called PHIL. Weather was terrible, extremely windy and very wet, rained all evening.

This evening Jess from work came out with me, she enjoyed helping and meeting the people that she did. We started at the hard and see Phil, he was completely covered up on his bench as the weather was so bad, he had some food and hot soup from us and we gave him some underwear and another jumper. We also spoke with Chris and new guy called Phil, we too ensured that they had all they need. Chris said there was another fella down by the ferry but when we went down there he had gone, think the weather was very unkind to him in that windy spot, he was busking there according to Chris. Speaking to old Phil I asked him if he has seen Bob and he said he came out of hospital but disappeared again, according to a couple of PCSO’s Bob has got a permanent home now. The new guy Phil was cold and wet so we gave him more clothing to change into. Jess and I drove along the seafront and old Portsmouth looking in all dark corners and crevices to see if we could find anyone in need but we found no one. Down Osborne road was Paul, sat outside NatWest bank as usual, we gave him a blanket and warm clothing and food. We then went down to Albert road and only found Ian, we gave him extra bedding and food for his brother.

FRIDAY 9^th DECEMBER 2011

DI AND I APPEARED IN THE NEWS (LOCAL PAPER)

Caring Jenette juggles her job with street life

Jenette Mace (left) and Diane Martin with items collected for the homeless by the Echoes Community Care charity in Havant. Picture: Ian Hargreaves (114234-1)

Published on Friday 9 December 2011 14:40

After 24 years as a care worker, Jenette Mace realised there was something missing in her life.

The 41-year-old decided she wanted to devote even more time to those in need.

So a few weeks ago she started juggling her full-time job at Echoes Community Care, in Havant, with evening visits to see people living rough on the streets.

Every Tuesday and Thursday she finishes work at 5pm and rushes home to cook some soup.

She then dishes out the warm broth and a bag of bread rolls, biscuits and cakes to rough sleepers at The Hard Interchange, Albert Road, Osborne Road and Palmerston Road, in Southsea.

Jenette, from Leigh Park, also makes her way along Eastern Road and every Tuesday she’s joined by Echoes Community Care manager Diane Martin.

Mother-of-three Jenette says: ‘It’s really enjoyable but some of the things you see can be a real worry.

‘The first time I went out I met a 74-year-old gentleman but I haven’t seen him since.

‘Someone sleeping on a park bench nearby recently told me he had been taken in by someone, so that came as a bit of relief.

‘One young lad went missing after he slept rough for a while but now he’s been found back on the streets.

‘When you see that some of them are that young you just want to take them in and care for them.’

Jenette also hands out blankets, jumpers, hats, scarfs and underwear to the homeless on her weekly visits – all donated by family and friends.

‘I really hope that my visits make a big difference to their lives,’ she adds.

‘It makes it all worthwhile when you go back each week and you see people wearing the clothes that have been donated.

‘There’s always a lot of requests for underwear.

‘I’m looking to start doing weekends now because as it gets colder and colder, I really start to think about how tough it must be for them.’

Jenette’s long-term goal is to set up her own hostel so she can provide people with a warm place to sleep and have a bath.

‘A lot of homeless people tell me they’re afraid of going into a hostel because it would be noisy and uncomfortable. Some have told me they came out of hostels and found it much calmer living on the streets. I would really love to provide them with the perfect place.’

One day she hopes to be of use abroad. ‘I love helping out others. It would be amazing to make a difference in third world countries.’

TUESDAY 13^th DECEMBER 2011: We met 3 new people, GEOFF, LES, LIAM and also see a few of our usual people

Di and I went to Mill house hostel first to drop off more heavy blankets and duvets then we headed for the hard, we had trouble finding anyone to start with but then Di noticed Phils coat behind the bus/coach shelter, we drove around where he was and went to talk to him, he was with 3 other men. All smelt heavily of alchol, when chatting we found out that they all needed a coat except for old Phil, the men he had with him were young Phil (who we met before) les, who had just been released from prison, I asked what he had done and he said it wasn’t him so I rephrased and said what were you in for and he replied “domestic violence” but it was his ex-girlfriends new boyfriend who attacked her and she blamed him. He was shaking with the cold so I gave him a jumper as well as a coat. The other chap Geoff didn’t look homeless at all, smartly dressed and hair gelled perfectly but I still gave him a coat and a blanket that he asked for, in fact he asked me when he could take me out so I chose to ignore this and laughed it off. Old Phil wasn’t feeling too good on this night, I gave him a pillow to rest his head on. We gave them all soup, rolls sandwiches, cakes etc. and all the clothing they needed. We then went to see Paul and see if Datts was about but Paul said he has been rehoused now which came as a bit of a relief as he wasn’t a young man. Paul had his usual from us and extra underwear. Di and I then drove around a few more streets but found no one so we headed for Albert road, we chatted with Sean for a while and Ian then headed down a bit further and found a man called Liam but he had been through some troubled times. He thought I was going to put him in a snuff film so I told him that I was just here to give him some food and clothes if he wanted any, told him that the car boot is open and I’ll just take out what he needs, he didn’t have to get in the car. Seemed he had a drink and drug problem and a few mental health issues by the looks of things. He went into drug rehabilitation when he was 19 and a girl in there was following him all the time so when he told her that he wasn’t interested in her she poured glue all over her head and set it alight, he thinks this was the start of his mental issues, he was later housed and had several warnings to much and was evicted. He heard voices and was trying to block them out by turning up music and television really loud, obviously people complained and now because of this he is on the streets with no mental health check and left to his own devices, he even said that he wanted to offend so that he could go to prison and be in the warm, how sad is that. He got fed and clothed and then went on his way.

THURSDAY 15^th DECEMBER 2011: Never went out on this evening but we did tell our usual homeless people

TUESDAY 20^th DECEMBER 2011: Went out with Liam and his girlfriend Harriet and met 3 new homeless men, JAMIE, STEVE, and an old fella who never gave his name and also our usual.

JAMIE BUSKING OUTSIDE GUNWHARF

THURSDAY 22^nd DECEMBER 2011: We met 2 new homeless men, GRANT and SIMON and we also see some of our usual’s

Liam and Harriet came out with me again and our first stop was the hard as usual, we see Jamie outside Gunwharf playing his guitar, we gave him a bag of food and a box of Jaffa cakes as it was Christmas and also the usual hot soup, Liam and Jamie were once again chatting about guitars and music, Liam gave Jamie some guitar picks, we then went round the other side of the bus station and sorted out food and treats for young Phil and Chris, Harriet and I sat with them for about 25 minutes just chatting, it was really nice as they were pretty intelligent men. We  went on to Osborne road to see if Paul was around but he wasn’t so we presume he has moved onto London, there was no one else around the area either so we went to albert road. There we found Ian and we gave him soup and a bag of food and also a box of chocolates for him and his brother, he said “ I know I don’t smell very nice but I want to give you a cuddle” I let him have a hug, he was so happy to of seen us, down the road a little further we see Sean, we too gave him a box of chocolates and food and soup and I also told him that Paul, my friend will be meeting me later so that he can meet him, possible job for him. I got back in the car and drove a little further down the road and spotted another homeless man that I have never met before. His Name was Grant, he didn’t say much but had a little food. Liam and Harriet popped in the shop to get a drink and I sat in the car then there was a knock on the window. I got out the car and Simon introduced himself, a bit of a colourful character, he was in prison for 8 years for armed robbery and when he came out he told his wife who he had 4 children with not to tell him if she had slept with anyone else whilst he was away but she couldn’t help herself so in frustration he went to a party and slept with 2 woman at different times. Little did he know they both lived in the same street and both ended up pregnant, 1 with twins, 1 with triplets, how unfortunate for him. As soon as they were born he had to pay maintenance for all 9 children he had and it only left him with £3 a week for benefits so he ended up homeless. Very jolly chap with an open approach to the world. I then got a phone call from my friend Paul to say that he was in the area so I told him where he will find me and Sean. I sat and waited with Sean for Paul to arrive and whilst waiting someone came along and said I was an angel doing what I am doing, I don’t believe that I am but it was nice of him, I recognised him and he recognised me too from years ago, I was cheeky and asked him if he was charitable enough to give some change to Sean and with that he pulled out a ten pound note and gave it to him then he shook his hand and kissed me on the cheek. Sean did well that night as he had extra food and soup, possible job lined up and a tenner from a stranger, this made Sean laugh when I said that. Paul turned up and I introduced them to each other then I left them both to talk about work .Paul hasn’t promised a job for Sean but he is going to talk to a friend of his when he gets back off his holidays and will then let me know so I can tell Sean. Sean had a mobile phone and wanted me to have his phone number, we exchanged numbers and later that night he sent me a text message saying thank you so much, I was touched by this.

SUNDAY 25^th DECEMBER: SEAN sent a text message to me wishing me a very happy Christmas, I sent one back wishing him well and telling him to keep warm.

TUESDAY 27^th DECEMBER 2011. Not anyone around tonight apart from SEAN and IAN

I went out with Harriet this evening, we looked hard everywhere we could think of but could only find Sean and Ian down Albert road. We gave them both some food bot were not in need of anything else. After chatting with them both we drove around some more. Chris said last week not to come out as there probably won’t be anyone about during Christmas period, he told us to stay home in the warm, bless him.

THURSDAY 29^th DECEMBER 2011. Met up with 2 new gentleman, MAC and JOHN, we also found old PHIL and some of our usual men.

I went round to collect Di and we headed straight for the Hard interchange, we firstly stopped and spoke to Jamie, he was playing his guitar but he stopped to speak with us. This is the first time Di has met him but she thought he was lovely, and so he is. I told Jamie that Liam has sent off for some pegs and strings for his guitar and Jamie said he will pay him but Liam didn’t want payment, it was a Christmas present from him to Jamie. Jamie had some rolls, crisps and bits off us but didn’t like the mushroom soup so this he refused, he also had some socks too from us. We went over and spoke to Chris who was also at the hard, he was selling the big issue, whilst talking Chris told us about his girlfriend. She has a room at Mill house hostel and is being picked on and bullied by a lad in there, Chris has tried telling him to leave her alone, he is so worried about her. She hasn’t got much clothing so I told Chris to bring her along with him next Thursday and we will kit her out as I have plenty of woman’s clothes in my garage. Chris was offered a room at this hostel as he had been on the waiting list for so long but he asked that his girlfriend had the room as she was more vunerable than he was and also he would worry more about her if she was still on the streets, that’s what I call true love !!.  Chris also told us that he found out where Phil has moved on to, the police moved him on a couple of weeks ago. We gave Chris all that he needed but he too turned down the mushroom soup, Di and I decided that perhaps we won’t do mushroom soup again as it didn’t appear to be popular so far. Phil was staying in the arches at the hot walls in old Portsmouth, Di and I went straight round to find him. We eventually found Phil but it was very dark as there was no lighting so we used the torch on my mobile phone. We had a long chat with him and then offered him some food and clothes and with that he said “could John have some stuff too?” Di any I were shocked as we didn’t realise someone else was there, John was sleeping at the end by Phil’s feet, didn’t we laugh but that was how dark it was as we could see him to start with. John and Phil both had food and soup, in fact they had 2 cups of soup each, and they also had jumpers, underwear and blankets. John used to have a tent on Portsdown Hill and he also had camping equipment. He used to walk to Portsmouth every day to get a meal at the hostel and one day when he got back he found that someone had stolen all of his camping gear and his tent, how could people do this to someone. John had nothing left but then met up with Phil and is now sleeping a bit more comfortably. John is very deaf so we did find ourselves shouting so that he could hear us , he has been homeless since 2000. We said our goodbyes and then headed for Osborne road to see if Paul was back from London but he wasn’t. There was someone sleeping on a doorstep next door to a convenience store in Osborne road so I stopped the car to see if he was ok, he was not quite with it, very drunk but in a poor state of health. His name was Mac, he is 41 years old and been on the streets for a few months. He wanted some food and extra clothing as what he had on wasn’t warm enough for the weather we were having. Mac said he loved pot noodles so I went into the shop and got him one, fortunately they had a hot water dispenser so I could make it up for him, we also gave him beef roll, sausage rolls and crisps etc. Mac asked us to come see him again but not to worry if he is not there as he could be doing work for someone as he does odd jobs.                                                                                     Di and myself went to Albert road to find Ian and Sean but neither of them were around , I text Sean to see if he was ok and he then phoned me and said he was just very tired and was staying in the hostel for the night. He also said that Ian needed a new coat as some guy the other day went into a shop, bought a tin of tomato soup and threw it all over Ian sat outside, poor little sod, he didn’t deserve that. Someone throwing soup over him is one thing but actually going into the shop and buying it especially is another, how heartless people can be, this upset me and Di greatly so we carried on looking for him but to no avail. Sean is going to tell Ian that we will sort out a coat for him on Tuesday. I took Di home after a good look around