CASE STUDY: DEREK’S STORY

Derek Clarke is sleeping rough in Cardiff.

After leaving home in Dublin, 39-year-old Derek found himself sleeping rough when he lost his job.

He said: “I’ve been on and off the streets for 16 years.

“I used to be a heroin addict, but have been clean for two years – I’m not ashamed to say it. It took a long time because it’s quite hard in hostels when you are doing drugs. It’s a hard place to live. I’m originally from Dublin but lived in London for two years before coming here.

“I was working in construction but lost my job. I was working with some Irish guys but they just packed up and left. I haven’t been back home. There’s nothing there. I haven’t spoken to my dad for a long time.

“I had a travel warrant to go home but I ended up staying.

“And then I just fell in with the wrong crowd. It took a long time for me to get out of it.”

Although he is getting by Derek gets hardly any help from charities, and with more and more people spending their nights on the streets, it’s getting harder to sort his life out.

He said: “I think there’s a lot more people on the streets in Cardiff than there was last year.

“I was in hospital for septicaemia and I’ve just come out but since I went in there’s lots of new faces.

“If you go to soup kitchens there are so many people so you might lose out.

“The soup kitchens are really good – they make a big difference – but it’s first come, first served.

“And hostels are for people with priority, which tends to be younger people.”

Derek said he used to sell the Big Issue but it got too expensive to buy.

He hopes he can sort his life out and get off the streets once and for all.