What life is like on freezing streets
“GO away, I have had people pecking my head all night - I have had no sleep.” My first attempt to speak to a man sleeping rough on the freezing streets of Manchester does not go well.
Bleary-eyed and cocooned in a grubby sleeping bag in a shop doorway, he doesn’t take kindly to me waking him from his half-sleep. And I can’t say I blame him. It can’t have been very comfortable trying to get his head down on the coldest night of the year on Market Street.
A couple of hours later as I pass him again, he’s sat up, alert and smiling at strangers.
I approach him again and apologise for earlier.
Much more amiable now he’s up and about, I crouch next to him to chat.
I find out he’s called Michael Heaton, is 22 years old and has spent five years on the streets.
Like many people living on the streets, his issues are complex.
He has ADHD and is a dad-of-two but doesn’t get access to his kids.
He has a swollen lip and a wound across his left cheek.
“The worst thing is dealing with d***heads all night. People bullying me and fighting me, it’s how I got this”, he says pointing to his mouth.
When I ask him who ‘people’ are, he says other rough sleepers.
He doesn’t complain about the cold.
“It’s been fine because I have this sleeping bag and this and this” he says, showing me a couple of fleece-type blankets.
He’s dressed in a warm-looking padded coat, but it appears to be inadequate protection against the elements.
He isn’t wearing gloves and his knuckles look red, possibly bruised. Michael confirms he has been offered accommodation in the past, but says the conditions in the hostels are tough. “I don’t want to stay there. All the other homeless people keep themselves to themselves, there’s nothing for me to do, I’m just stuck in a room and it’s bad for my mental health”, he says.
A few doorways down, another young man, who asks not to be named, is also encased in a sleeping bag. He’s immediately happy to talk to me and tells me his night was ‘really, really bad’.
“I didn’t get to sleep until 7.30am,” he says, “It was so cold.”
Homeless for five years, he says he was given a hotel room the night before, but when he arrived there a security guard refused to let him in.
Further down the street two men with a dog called Buster, who is wrapped in a blanket, are anxious to talk.
They explain the complexities of life on the streets and the challenges they face.
One of the men, Norman Wotherspoon, tells me he used to be in prison.
He says he has turned to shoplifting in the past – but he’s desperate to break the cycle. “I don’t want to mess up any next chance,” he says.
His friend Stephen Blackwell says there are lots of reasons why people can end up in the same position as him. “I have spoken to loads of homeless women who are the victim of domestic violence,” he says.
“Lots of homeless are people with mental health issues. The system has let them down.”
Stephen says having a dog has made it difficult to stay in shelters.
Buster is covered over with a blanket but Norman seems worried about the icy temperature.
“He looks cold,” he says, crouching down to check on him.
A Bed Every Night, Andy Burnham’s flagship scheme, offers a bed and personal support for people sleeping on the streets.
Manchester council also provides emergency accommodation during periods of severe cold weather.
A Manchester council spokesperson said: “There was a cold weather offer in place on Saturday and Sunday nights in the city in response to the very bad weather and 30 people were accommodated.
“We will be trying to find ongoing accommodation for the people who came indoors over the weekend but now that the weather is warming up there will be no new referrals through the cold weather pathway – although people can still come in through council and ABEN (A Bed Every Night) services.”