Britain’s shame
Forced on to the streets: The mum whose unborn baby died of the cold, the hard-working builder who broke his back & lost his job, the wife evicted on her birthday.. despatches from 24 hours on the homeless front line which will horrify the nation
IN towns and cities across Britain there is a scandal which any civilised country should be ashamed of.
Thousands of vulnerable homeless people are sleeping on the streets.
Today the Mirror exposes the depth of this crisis in a 24-hour snapshot across the country.
Our reporters tell the stories of those who have fallen on hard times whether through misfortune, addiction or the failures of the benefit system.
And we show how charities and volunteers are offering support to people close to giving up hope.
It is a story that needs to be told, and a crisis that needs to be tackled.
Disabled man in tears at his plight
ON a bitterly cold evening as rain hammers down, Mohammed Razaq weeps at the thought of another night on the icy streets.
The 49-year-old, who is registered disabled and blind in one eye, has been sleeping rough since splitting from his wife 18 months ago.
He will struggle to find anywhere to keep dry tonight. Gripping my hand as tears stream down his face, he said: “How have I ended up like this?”
He lived in London before going back to his hometown of Blackburn, Lancs, after the relationship breakdown. On his return the former Eddie Stobart truck driver struggled to find work and a home, so for now he is sleeping in the town centre, trying to fend off the cold in a coat and bobble hat.
In a few hours he will bed down near where rough sleeper Andy Davie died a few weeks ago.
Andy, 39, was found dead in his sleeping bag outside a shop. Alongside Mohammed he was one of the 90 regulars at Community Spirit, a soup kitchen and outreach service run by volunteers.
Co-founder and trustee Neil Mistry, 26, said Andy wasn’t the first of their regulars to die on the street. Speaking during the busy Tuesday night food service, Neil added: “Austerity and Universal Credit have been a catastrophe for people here.
“I meet people all the time who are homeless because of Universal Credit.” Blackburn