A resolution to help the homeless

I ALWAYS like to take in the weather forecast for the East Midlands on the lunchtime news programme. Today there was an early warning that we might be having some snow the time you read this column.

There was a time when I used to enjoy the snow.

When I was at school it was always a fun time, then making snowmen and snow fights with my children. Nowadays my first thought is for homeless people who have to sleep on the streets and must try to find shelter from the cold.

This rough sleeping seems a new phenomenon to me because in the 1950s there were very few people who had to resort to the streets. We only had what we called tramps. I guess that was because they carried their clothes on their back and, with all their meagre belongings, they tramped from town to town.

Then, while doing a Scout expedition, we came across a tramp going our way and walked with him for a while. We chatted about where he had visited in his travels and eventually asked why he chose to live on the roads. He claimed he liked the freedom and mostly people were kind to him. He was allowed to sleep in barns in the country and sometimes sheds in the towns and was usually given something to eat and drink.

In the 21st century, people living on the streets and sleeping rough are far more numerous. I admit I have never asked any of the many I have come across in Derby why they are homeless. Perhaps I should, but somehow I doubt I can do much more than listen and maybe give them a quid towards some food rather than drugs or alcohol.

Christmas is the time when the churches and charities create some respite for street people by looking to provide shelter and food over the festival. I applaud those who give their time to support and provide this goodwill.

But I do wonder what happens after the New Year, when the homeless are put out again to fend for themselves. January and February are usually very cold months.

I would hate to have to endure that sort of weather on the streets. By then, the media have lost their interest in this problem that made good copy over the festive period.

I do wish I knew how to ensure everyone who wanted one had a roof over their heads. I do recall in college days studying Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. The top three in the pyramid were shelter, food and clothes – so society has some thinking to do. Once we had the council property that is now called social housing to meet this need. Then a certain Prime Minister created a right to buy their houses. Nothing wrong with the concept – provided those houses are replaced. But that simply has not happened.

Those who are homeless are never going to afford private rented property and, with many of them, also having mental health issues having been turned out of their hospitals years ago, it may not be practical to again provide the roof over their heads. Somewhere we have to find a method to manage this problem without creating any newer issues.

I do watch the applications to the local planning authority for new housing estates. I rarely notice many, if any, proposals for social housing. What we do get is offers of affordable units mixed in with what I presume are the expensive stock. Affordable is hardly any help if you are on the streets.

Could we make 2019 the year of, and for, the homeless? We have to manage this social problem before it engulfs us.