Homelessness In Portsmouth

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.