The bleak and lonely lives of a town’s ‘forgotten’ street people
Neath has the worst homelessness problem in Wales relative to its population, according to statistics. Gemma Parry found out more
It’s a wet Saturday morning in Neath and huddled in shop doorways throughout the town are people in sleeping-bags.
Some of them have sandwiches or cold tea, some have spare change collected in hats or in their laps, and some are asking passers-by for help. But they all have one thing in common – they have no home.
It’s a Wales-wide issue, of course. In the past year 51.9 people per 10,000 households in the country were assessed as homeless by the Welsh Government.
Here in Neath homelessness is an even bigger issue. The number of people living without a home is well above the national average, with 88 people per 10,000 households assessed as homeless.
Taking into account the size and number of households within each local authority, Neath Port Talbot tops the list with the highest rate of homelessness in Wales. It’s closely followed by Cardiff and Newport at 86.3 people per 10,000 households each.
And of that figure, as of March 2016, between zero and 0.8 people in Neath Port Talbot per 10,000 households were in temporary accommodation.
For some these are just statistics, but for others it’s a reality of day-today living. Gary, who did not wish to provide his last name, found himself on the streets nearly a year ago after losing his job.
The 42-year-old struggled to find alternative work and ended up without a home.
“It’s been about 10 months. I’ve been on the streets the entire time. It’s been a nightmare,” he said, while huddling under shelter from the rain.
“I lost my job. My wife threw me out then, and I found it hard to claim benefits. Obviously if you can’t get benefits, then you can’t get housing benefit so it’s hard to get somewhere to live.”
Gary gets through the day by sticking with the few friends he has made while living on the streets.
“I’ve befriended a few people who are also homeless and we tend to all stick together,” he said. “It is difficult for me, especially during the nights. There are empty buildings but the police move us on quite a lot. We are here every day – we have nowhere else to go,” he said. “Homelessness is a big issue here.”
The same is true for couple Louise and her partner, who did not wish to be named, who have been on the streets together since last summer.
The day we spoke to them they were sitting in different parts of the town centre to “have a break from each other”.
Louise, 27, and her partner, 36, lost their flat when their housing benefits were stopped. They’ve been unable to find accommodation since.
Louise’s partner was sitting outside Morrisons, but he was soon moved on by police. He met up with Louise, who was sitting outside Poundland wrapped up in a sleeping-bag and a puffy jacket to try to keep warm. Her health is starting to suffer because of her situation.
“My partner lost his housing benefit and then we lost the flat,” she said. “It’s been horrible. We’ve been out since June or July and my health is suffering now. I have a bad chest.
“We can’t get any help, though. People have stopped and talked to me but we haven’t had much help.
“It is very difficult but we have each other,” she said. “Sometimes we do have to have a break from each other, but we are in this together.”
Their friend, Kris, was sitting outside a B&M store with a bacon roll, bought with pennies he managed to scrape together the day before.
The 24-year-old has been homeless for four years after getting into trouble with the police.
He said: “I’ve been in prison twice. The first time was for shoplifting but the second time was after I took my mother’s car. After that I got addicted to drugs, and it all went downhill. I think if I had made better choices I wouldn’t be where I am now.”
Unlike Louise and her partner, Kris has no family.
“I find it really difficult, especially around Christmas,” he said.
He said lots of people in his situation believed that Neath Port Talbot Council and the Welsh Government should be doing more to help.
“We all blame the council,” he said.
Neath Port Talbot Council did not reply to our request for a comment, but according to the Welsh Government, new legislation launched in 2015 aims to help everyone who is homeless or at risk of becoming homeless.
Neath AM Jeremy Miles said there were lots of organisations in the town to provide support.
“We have got to do all we can to prevent people from becoming homeless,” he said.
Kris added, while counting the change in his lap: “We all feel like we have been forgotten about.”