Questions asked to people at Pathway Support Centre 

Questions asked to people at Pathway Support Centre by Brogan Berwick

and some of the answers given

 
1. Where did you sleep last night?

Outside Sainsbury’s
Lying on top of a tomb stone-creates a barrier between the person and the ground
Regent Road
The graveyard- there are normally a lot of tents pitched up there
A park bench
A shop doorway
The archway of Market Gates
Northgate road

2. Where will you sleep tonight?

I will try Regent Road where the metal railings are, there is a little bit of wind protection there
The same place as last night maybe
I never know where I will be sleeping from one day to the next, all I know is that I will have a sleeping bag and 3 duvets to try and keep warm
I will just walk around until I find somewhere

 
3. How long have you sleeping rough?

2 winters
Since 4th October 2016
18 months
6 months in Great Yarmouth
Since December 

4. Do you display a sign/note?

You aren’t allowed, or you will get nicked by the police because it’s a form of begging and you can’t ask people for money you just have to call it an exchange for a song on the guitar or something, like a good will gift
No I don’t beg, it’s not my thing
No I don’t do that. I don’t beg 

5. What causes you most difficulty when sleeping rough?

Sexually assaulted
Waking up in 4 inches of rain
ill health
being spit on
kicked
Getting into Fights

Just like what any other human would experience 

 
6. Have you had any access to help from authorities?

Not much 3 nights in a B&B
No access to health care
SWEP is an organisation that opens it doors, but only after it has been zero degrees for three consecutive nights
There is a lot of red tape
You have to have an address or a bank account in order to get help, but then you can’t have one without the other
There is just no social housing
Hard to get involved with
There is strict criteria- I thought the only criteria would be that you have to be homeless

What is your story?

Vicky 39: Had a ‘normal’ life, a job a rented house, a family. But then she got a back injury and was off work for 6 months. Only got financial support for 6 months then after that she had no income coming in, no way to pay for her rent or bills, and so was evicted. Sofa surfed for as long as possible and then that led to sleeping rough.
She has a 21-year-old daughter and she is now a grandmother. An alcoholic- she did detox from alcohol once but then ended up on the streets again which she then resulted to alcohol again- “because in order to fall asleep in a door way I need something to make me pass out, so I drink”. Tried to contact council, doctor’s, hospital, to get told she is abusing the system
She had been in a hostel and that was where she detoxed from alcohol, but the way in which an individual has lived their life on the streets is hard to forget. People would assume that if you had access to a hostel you would be on the road to living a ‘normal’ life, but the behaviour that these people have encountered while living on the streets never leaves them, and this is why it is so hard to break the cycle of homelessness

Gazman: 46 and in a relationship with Vicky

Mark: Once cared for someone and so lived in their house, but once that person died he had no where to go and so he was made homeless. As a result, he has been sleeping rough for 6 months.
He said the Pathway Centre saved his life because without it he said “I would have starved many months ago if it wasn’t for the Pathway”. He suffers post-traumatic stress disorder because of a lot of abuse he had to deal with as a child- mental health issues

Jay: Used to run pubs and also worked as a scaffolder.  He lost a roof over his head, ended up sofa surfing and is now homeless.  Is now in between being in prison and being homeless.  He suffers epilepsy because of a head accident