Homelessness In Portsmouth

TUESDAY 26^TH JUNE 2012. Tonight we see TINNY, JIM, PAUL, IAN and his brother MARK and SEAN.

I was in a rush to get out this evening as I finished work later so I never had time to butter the rolls and make up a flask of soup so I just filled the flasks with hot water and took out cuppa soups and we buttered the rolls as we went along.

I picked up Courtney and we went to meet Jim at the end of the Eastern road, he came in my car.

We headed straight for Portsmouth Harbour where we spoke with Tinny and Jim. Jim said last week that he and his friend Kevin were hoping to go back to Liverpool but unfortunately they didn’t have the money. Jim said that they haven’t received any benefits and that was the money they were relying on to go back. We gave Jim a coffee and food then he moved on. Tinny was in his usual place so we went over and spoke with him. He has got himself in a bit of bother with 2 woman who he likes a lot, the story was quite funny I must say.

We moved on to see Paul in Osborne road, he was in good spirits, he said that when he is on his feet he hopes to have a woman like me by his side, this was very sweet but he said also I was like a mother to him ha ha. He also said he would like to take me to dinner when he has sorted himself out, so sweet.

As we were talking to Paul, Ian came along with his brother in tow. I have heard a lot about him but never met him so it was good to put a name to a face.

We moved onto Albert road to see Sean, we had a chat and gave him some food. He told us that he has lost the spot where he could have had his caravan put. Looks like it will be staying up north for a while yet.

Eventually we headed home.

TUESDAY 19^th JUNE 2012. Tonight we see JIM, TINNY, PAUL, JIM (from palmeston road), FRANKIE and a new lad called GRANT.

Again I met up with my friend Jim, He really enjoyed coming out last week and wants to come out when he can, I am happy with this as he had a very gentle approach to people and the guys seemed to take to him as well which is always a plus as we need these guys to gain our trust. They get a lot of abuse being on the streets, as I said in previous weeks so it is nice for them to have a friend who they can trust and talk to.

We went to the hostel first and dropped off the left over bread then went to Portsmouth harbour to see Tinny and Jim. Jim was saying that he and kevin were hoping to go back to Liverpool to find work next Monday so we may not see them again, hopefully they will have a better chance in Liverpool.

When we finished with these two we drove around for a while then we went to Osborne road where we found Paul. He was looking quite well considering and he was pleased to see us as I haven’t seen him around for a few weeks.

We moved on to Elm grove and stopped to see Frankie, she was very sweet to us , she thought Jim and I were a couple but we set her straight telling her we have our own partners. Frankie kept wanting to kiss Jim, think she has a soft spot for him. As we were giving her food a friend of hers came along to take her somewhere else, Frankie got up and started hurling a load of abuse at a security guard in the co-op and also the shop staff. Jim and I decided to move on as we didn’t want to get involved with this sort of thing, we did try to ease her away but she wasn’t having any of it so we went on.

We went to Albert road where we see the other Jim, we have seen him a few times before, he was in the Marines for many years then ended up on the streets as he could get a job in the civvy world, absolutely terrible. He didn’t look too good but I suppose rough living does this to you. We also spoke with a new guy called Grant, he occasionally stays with his mother but spends most of his days and night on the streets. When we finished chatting with these guys I took Jim along the seafront so we could get an ice cream, we parked up by the fun fair got an ice cream and walked towards old Portsmouth to see if we could find anyone else.

We headed for home after that

TUESDAY 12^TH JUNE. Tonight we see JIM, IAN, SEAN, TINNY, CHRIS and met a new homeless woman called Frankie.

Tonight I had a good friend called Jim come out with me, we met at the end of the Eastern road where he left his car and jumped in with me.

Jim has not done this sort of thing and really enjoyed the evening, he said it was an eye opener and didn’t know what to expect.

We headed straight to the hostel where we delivered the rest of the bread and rolls that I had left over from the bakers. A local bakery give me bread whenever I go out and they have started giving me savouries such as quiche, sausage rolls and pies etc.. At the end of the bakeries working day they throw away the stuff that is left over so I take it off their hands and put it to good use. There is nothing wrong with the food but the bakery by law cannot sell it the next day. Still this is still very generous of them so if you are reading this thank you so very much from me and the homeless guys, we really appreciate it.

When we delivered the bread to the hostel we went to Portsmouth harbour where we see Tinny, Jim and Chris. We gave them soup, bread and butter, cake, pie and coffee etc and I introduced them to my friend Jim. They all were very polite and chatty. The homeless guy Jim was trying his hardest to understand our conversation but did have slight difficulty as he is from Hungary and doesn’t know much of the English language. We managed to find out where he and his friend Kevin were sleeping, (Tesco’s car park). They have both managed to get some bedding so they never required anything I brought out for them. They were both down the job centre and library every day trying to find work but no success at all.

When we finished with these lads we moved onto the hot walls, along the sea front and around a few other roads but found no one about unfortunately, we even went down Palmeston road and Osborne road to find no one about.

We went to Elm Grove and found a lady called Frankie, she is a self-harmer, she had cuts all up her arms bless her and she told us that she has been homeless for 5 years. We asked her if she had seen Ian or any of the others but she said no. She was a bit wary of us at first as she has had a lot of people verbally and physically abusing her when she is sitting around on the streets. She told us that she had somewhere to heat food if she needed to so we gave her a few bits to eat now and for later.

We went down Albert road and see Ian and Sean, we gave them a few bits and had a nice chat.

Sean tells me that he has found somewhere for his caravan to go if he can get it down here from up North, problem is Sean can’t drive bless him.

We headed back to Jims car then went home. Jim apologised for being a bit quiet, he said it affected him more than he expected.