ROUGH SLEEPERS FACE BATTLE TO SURVIVE
Beaten, threatened, urinated on… grim reality of life on the streets
ROUGH sleepers in Glasgow are facing a battle to survive, with assaults and threats happening on a nightly basis.
The Evening Times witnessed the ordeal endured by men and women on the streets as we start a week-long series highlighting homelessness.
GLASGOW’S homeless population is facing beatings, theft, public humiliation and the threat of drug dealers on a nightly basis as they battle to survive on the city’s streets, driving some to the brink of suicide.
Rough sleepers from across the city have revealed the horrific incidents which plague their everyday lives.
Over two nights spent alongside volunteer groups serving those struggling through prolonged periods of rough sleeping, the Evening Times met numerous people who had been subjected to brutal abuse.
The revelations come after further cuts to Glasgow’s homelessness service by the council, with £2.6million of services having been chopped at the beginning of this month.
For those without a roof over their head, muggings, violence and being urinated on are regular occurrences.
One man, who did not want to be named, had settled in Dundas Lane on a Saturday night, just yards from Buchanan Street.
He was left speechless after a member of the public used him and his belongings as a toilet as others filed by.
There is no shock in his voice as he describes the awful incident, resigned to his fate of mistreatment.
Just days later, the Evening Times met the same man again, this time with a broken cheekbone, bruising across his face, and a hospital band on his wrist.
Having been on the street now for two years, a mental breakdown following the death of his son leaving him destitute, he has turned to alcohol.
For others, the damage done is to their mental health. One man, Mark, has been begging on Ingram Street for around a year.
The 45-year-old, from Possil, was crippled by Universal Credit towards the end of 2018, and was eventually forced on to the streets following a lifetime of working.
Mark says he visits homeless services most days across the city, but has yet to be offered any accommodation from the council. Instead, he relies on frontline groups like this to get through, day to day.
This meeting comes during a volunteer night service provided by Help the Homeless Glasgow, whose volunteers hand out vital food, drinks and life-saving supplies to those on the street. The group have dealt with Mark regularly since he began sleeping rough last November.
Eleven months on, Mark continues daily visits to his elderly mother in Maryhill. However, the pain of his ongoing ordeal means he has yet to tell her he lives on the streets, fearing it could “kill her”.
“If it wasn’t for groups like this, I would have taken my own life a while ago,” he admits. “Not that long ago I was thinking about it.
“I get booted in the face, people grab my hat, people steal my sleeping bags. I’ve been robbed and had needles put up against my neck. I’ve been through the wars. I’m sick of it, I’ve had enough.”
As well as the violence facing those on the street, the harm done by drug abuse is clear.
On a Saturday night, one woman is unable to speak coherently, with volunteers claiming she has taken multiple tablets of street Valium.
Minutes after first speaking to her, the group are interrupted as a drug dealer comes up and places four more tablets in her hand.
This incident took place unnoticed with a police vehicle parked across the street, outside Glasgow Central station.
Days later, a small group of helpers from campaign group The Invisibles encountered two men who were staying down a lane at the back of restaurants, just a short distance from George Square.
However, the pair angrily
pointed out the full heroin kit, burnt and used, complete with needle, which has been dumped beside where they sleep by others living on the streets.
This resignation to their bleak situation is common amongst those on the streets of Glasgow, and is passed onto those who offer support.
Anton Reilly, who works with Help the Homeless Glasgow, says the public are slowly realised the extent of the problems in the city.
He added: “It is horrible, I go home at night and sometimes I can’t sleep. You hear rain battering off your window and you think of people sleeping on the streets. There’s only so much we can do.
“Years ago there was a stigma, people thought it was all drug users and it was their fault. But now they realise it could happen to their brother, their sister.
“In the last year there has been an influx of volunteers. I think it’s publicity. People realise there is a problem and they want to help.”
I’ve been robbed and had needles put up against my neck