It’s not much of a life, it is more of an existence
ON PATROL WITH CHARITY’S HOMELESSNESS WORKERS
SHARING a sleeping bag with rats while fighting to stay warm in sub-zero temperatures. This is just a part of life for the brave “survivors” facing a battle just to stay alive on Newcastle’s streets in freezing winter.
As part of an investigation into homelessness across the country, The Mirror joined the ‘Changing Lives’ dawn patrol. The charity has seen a rise in numbers needing help in Newcastle, and it says this is partly due to controversial benefit Universal Credit.
Before first light, from 6.15am, outreach workers Stuart Dawson and Michaela Patterson are out searching for rough sleepers.
They check car parks, doorways, subways, storage space tucked away behind busy thoroughfares like Northumberland Street. Rats have been spotted in some of the areas, scurrying around rubbish looking for food. Stuart, 40, and Michaela, 29, find homeless people with little more than cardboard and blankets to protect them against the biting -1C cold when we set off with them from Grey’s Monument shortly after 6am.
First, they check for signs of life, making sure they are still breathing. Then they offer assistance, giving details of the charity’s drop-in centre which provides food, a hot shower, washing facilities and benefits advice.
“People may look all night for somewhere to sleep, and may not find a spot until four or five am,” explained Stuart, who gets up at 4.30am to go out on patrol. “We are Newcastle’s alarm clock. When we wake them, they may not always be too happy to see us because it is so early.
“You do see rats at times, especially when it has been raining because the sewers are full. The homeless have told us about rats getting into their sleeping bags. One man would open up his bag in the morning and just let them out as they helped him stay warm. “Another said rats get into his tent and wake him up. It is just a normal part of life for them. I don’t mind seeing them running around, I’m not scared of them. But I wouldn’t want to sleep with one.”
Michaela and Stuart are struck by how resourceful the homeless have to be just to get by.
“They build camps, find food, they are vulnerable, but they are survivors,” said Michaela. “I could not sleep for fear of whatever the night might bring. But they adapt.” Stuart, who has worked for the charity for 10 years, starting off in a hostel, adds: “Life on the street has to be mentally, physically exhausting.
“It is not much of a life, it is more of an existence. It ages people.
“Just having a bed for the night, a hot drink, food, takes years off them. They are transformed.”
Not all those on the streets conform to the homeless stereotypes. ‘Mike the Mathematician,’ 53, under cover by shops next to the city library, is well spoken, intelligent and polite.
He spends his days going to various libraries, moving from town to town. He has been offered support in Newcastle, but is happy alone.
“He goes through the maths sections,” explains Michaela after chatting with him as he lies on the pavement in a sleeping bag. “He has been seen by mental health and social workers. He is deemed to be of sound mind.”