Over the recent years, the number of people sleeping rough in London has increased rapidly, an issue that has been exacerbated by Covid-19. However, the factors that result in absolute poverty are extremely varied from person to person, as discovered in two interviews with homeless people on the streets of London.

 

William Jones, a recovering alcoholic, said that it all started with “my drinking. I lost my mum, then I lost my nan and my best friend about sixteen months apart.”

 

Jones has been sleeping rough “on and off for about seven years now… I’ve been staying with my kids, but then they get irritated with my drinking, so I have to leave…it’s been about a month now since I’ve been back home this time… my children live in Streatham but I’m originally from the Black Country.”

 

“I’m a recovering alcoholic. I’ve got my first day sober at the moment.

 

“[being homeless] has got me to do what I need to do, you know, stop drinking and buck my ideas up

 

“I did the detox in St. George’s because I tried to take my life about four and a half weeks ago and they kept me for fourteen days in detox. Then they let me go.

 

“I have [got support] in Brixton but I’ve got to wait another thirty days to get into rehab… London can’t help me at all even though my children are here, and I’ve lived here seventeen years.

 

“Covid has made it much worse. All the day centres have closed down. They are only open on Sunday now and so it is really hard to get any help.

 

“‘I do [get financial support] yeah… but someone stole my credit card… so I’m waiting for a new bank card. 

 

Jones continued: “one night around here would cost me about £100. It’s ridiculous… I buy food with the money I am given, if not, I go without”

 

He pointed out that on Sundays some charities will provide a meal: “last night they came round” he said.

 

Jones also stressed the different types of homeless people and the rivalry between them: “No [I don’t feel safe], not down that end I don’t. Up here it is not too bad. There is a camera right there and security there. But when I’m sleeping down there- I’ve been moved on three times down there… Loads more happens to people down there. They are a different kind of people, they don’t care, they’ll beg, they’ll steal, they’ll fight.

 

“There used to be [a community of homeless people] when I first came over… we would always stick together…we used to sleep over where the park is or by the embassy. We were fine, but since Covid it has gone.

 

William Jones was sheltering in a doorway just up the road from Victoria station. After “seven years” of experience sleeping rough in London, he was confident that the homeless who gathered immediately outside Victoria station were the ones who didn’t care about each other, instead they would “steal” and “fight” for everything they could get and were not respectable individuals.

 

Dean Black, a 23-year-old homeless man who was positioned directly outside one of the exits to Victoria station appeared to have made the conscious choice to sleep on the streets of London and had done for the past “three weeks”.

 

“I’m from Newcastle and my mum fled domestic violence from my dad. They put my mum in a women’s refuge but because I’m from Newcastle they say I have got no connection to London. They are trying to make me go back home but obviously I’m trying to stick out and stay with my mum. They have told me that they have found somewhere, and it is a shelter in Birmingham, and I’ve never been there either and so it is pointless me going there if I want to be down here with my mum.”

 

Dean Black has spent the past three weeks sleeping by “the McDonalds-the cathedral- just in one of those doorways.” Previously Black had “worked with a friend doing window cleaning

 

“[the public] don’t speak [to me] … but I understand because it is a busy place… there are so many people in London. 

 

“I normally say good morning… but I don’t ask [the public for money] because that is just like everyone else.

 

“I’m working with St Mungo’s at the moment… I see them every morning, they will go past to check on me but that is it so far.

 

St Mungo’s is a registered charity that works tirelessly to tackle homelessness in England.

 

When speaking to Dean Black, it was obvious that he did not have to be in the situation that he was in, however he was willing to sacrifice his job and support network to be with his mother. While this is understandable, the question is, does this make it more challenging for those like William Jones to get the support they truly need?

 

A report by Shelter in 2019 estimated that 1 in 52 people are homeless in London, and with the rising numbers in absolute poverty due to the impact of Covid, homelessness is an epidemic of its own that needs increased investment to provide the basic entitlements that you would expect in the UK.