Homelessness In Portsmouth

TUESDAY 5^TH JUNE 2012. Tonight we found 3 new homeless men, GARETH, JIM, KEVIN and we also see Tinny.

The weather was awful this evening, windy and very wet but we carried on regardless. At the end of the day we are only in the wet and wind for literally minutes at a time, not like the poor homeless guys who have to sleep in it !!

I picked Courtney up then we headed to the Hard interchange, we sat with Tinny for a short while, even though it was raining, he was feeling a bit low this evening, think it was the miserable weather ! We gave tinny some meat rolls, crisps, cakes and coffee etc and had a little chat with him, trying to cheer him up. I asked Tinny about the big building that was opposite him as it was empty and would be ideal for the homeless guys to do up, he said it was privately owned and had security guards there all the time. I told him I would look into it but couldn’t promise anything. Courtney and I carried on round in the car to the Gosport ferry end to see if the other regulars were about but they weren’t. There was a young guy who we got out to speak to, he was soaking wet, been begging most of the day and had nothing dry to sleep in now. We gave him some hot soup and food. His name was Gareth, he used to live in Wiltshire and has been in care most of his life, he said he has had to fend for himself since he was little which I found very sad. He was a chatty person. Another guy came along to where we were chatting then Gareth said it was time for him to give the pitch to someone else now, he was moving on for the next homeless guy. This is the usual way the homeless guys work, they share a pitch to beg or sell the big issue.

Anyway, Gareth moved off then this other guy asked me if I had any food, he was foreign, his name was Jim. He didn’t look homeless but he said that he and his friend, Kevin, had only been on the streets for 1 week. They travelled down from Liverpool as they were told that they would find work down here. When speaking to him his friend came along so we fed and watered him as well. They are both from Hungry. It felt so guilty as I didn’t bring any clothes or bedding out this evening and they both were very cold and had no shelter from the rain either. I advised them to have a chat with Tinny as he may be able to point them in the right direction for a nights shelter out of the rain, I did tell them about the hot walls as it was kind of closed in…

Courtney and I carried on our usual route but found no one else apart from a very drunk homeless guy sitting in a door way, this frightened Courtney and she didn’t want me to stop the car. He was a bit of a state and had a black eye, he did look a bit dodgy so we carried on. I’ll come back and see him next week as I don’t like leaving people if they need help but I was worried about little Courtney’s feelings at the time.

END OF APRIL AND ALL OF MAY.

My apologies to everyone. I have been out several times to see the homeless but not written anything up so again I am sorry.Work has been extra busy and also I have spent a few days here and there working in Wiltshire so I have not had the time to write anything up.The times that I have been out young Courtney has been with me, we see the usual crowd and also a few new guys, one of which had only just got out of prison. He had somewhere to stay but had no money for food or anything, he approached me as I was talking to another new guy, he asked if I was the soup kitchen, this made me chuckle a little as I only got a Volkswagen polo of which I fill with sandwiches, flasks, crisps etc…. he was a nice polite lad, we fed them both, I forgot their names though as my memory is not very good ha ha.We also approached a lady, she had to be in her late 50s early 60s. She was extremely rude, Courtney and myself walked over to her and softly asked her if she would like a sandwich, she was eating a banana at the time. She stood up walked over to me and told me to f**k off and leave her alone, so we did! She picked up all her bags and walked in the opposite direction. I must admit that we have never experienced anyone like this, she was defiantly homeless as tinny said she is known around here but doesn’t talk or walk with anyone, a bit of a loner I think and probably been verbally abused by others all her street life, that could be why she had an attitude, protection. I have been on BBC Radio Solent again as a drive time guest, 17.15 Friday 1^st June, Steve Harris was the presenter, lovely guy, not bad looking either looking at his pics on BBCi Player ha ha !!!. I was talking to him about me wanting to raise money so that I can do some charity work in Morocco later this year. It is something I have always wanted to do and I can do it as soon as I raise at least £600. I’ll be going out with a group of volunteers, the money I need is £125 to secure my place, £125 a week for accommodation (at least that’s what I think it is for, the charity just gave me these figures), and £150 for return flights. It’s not too bad but now im looking for ideas to raise money so if anyone has any ideas please let me know!!! I will be working in orphanages and also working with the street children of Morocco, it will be heart breaking but knowing I can help, even if it is only for 2 weeks will be a blessing and experience.That’s all for now but I’m hoping to be able to write up tomorrow as I’m out this evening seeing the guys and girls on our streets living rough .