Chief Executive of CAIS

Out and about with outreach workers Tracey, Gail and Elen

Some 30-odd years ago I walked the beat around Ardwick Green in Manchester.  The area was a haunt of many homeless men and women who frequented the city centre by day and used a number of nearby official and unofficial shelters by night.  It is fair to say that they brought with them a number of problems for the neighbourhood; shoplifting and scrap metal were the principal sources of income, and drunken brawls were frequent and bloody.  I got to know many of them.  Their stories were often interesting - and harrowing - and they would welcome the opportunity of chatting with whoever would listen, even a fresh-faced policeman.

There are marked differences in attitudes to the homeless across the UK, from public bodies, communities and individuals.  Sometimes there is sympathy, sometimes an assertion that homelessness is a lifestyle choice, and sometimes sheer contempt.  What is your attitude to the Big Issue seller?

In my experience very, very few individuals actually want to live on the street.  People often end up there on the back of unemployment or family breakdown.  Sometimes offenders released from prison have no alternative provision and quickly drift back into criminality.  There are pathways out of the horror, but the journey needs the assistance of a friend or two.  I recently spent an evening with the CAIS outreach team, which seeks to offer that support to the homeless of Wrexham.  The extent of the phenomenon of homelessness in Wrexham and throughout Wales will probably be a surprise to many.  Rest assured there are people, largely invisible, who have no home, no friends, no income and no sustenance.  Many of them will misuse both drugs and alcohol.  I observed the team dispensing very welcome food and hot drinks to a regular group of clients who have come to trust the service.  Some of the food is donated by local hotels and companies.  The team was accompanied by health workers who were there to offer counselling and care for the many ailments which inflict people living rough.

It is hard to say how many homeless individuals exist in the Wrexham area; some use various shelters, some rely on acquaintances in an endless round of “sofa-surfing”, some make do outdoors.  The team can deal with around 30 clients in an evening; most of them are local in origin, but it is also likely that some are from further afield, including recent immigrants.  The team estimates that around 10 young Poles are homeless in the area.  Whatever your views on immigration and asylum seekers, it seems unlikely that the aspirations of any individual coming to North Wales from abroad will encompass ending up hungry and alone, with no roof over their head.

As we experience the first frosts of winter I suspect demand for services to the homeless will increase, particularly as the economic downturn continues.  We can ignore the problem - or deal with it.

Clive Wolfendale

Blogging was a regular feature of workplace routine during the last three years of my previous job.  I know that the pieces sometimes bored, occasionally irritated and even, once or twice, enraged the readers.  I also know that a surprising number of people (from all over the world) tuned in and that my ramblings, now and then, provided a little food for thought - and provoked the odd smile. 

As any serious blogger will tell you, turning out a regular and worthwhile text is not easy.  The muse is not always favourably disposed and, in the grand scheme of things, there’s always something more important to do.  On the other hand, blogging represents an opportunity to those charged with some sort of responsibility to communicate, on their own terms and in their own way, with those whom they work with and for.  So I was very much in two minds, on taking up my position with CAIS, about whether to continue with the exercise.  I had all but decided to save myself the grief until I came across 39 year old Mao Xinyu, youngest general in the 2.5-million-strong People’s Liberation Army of China.  He is blogger, lauded by the People’s Daily website for producing the “most attention-grabbing” blog of the year. http://blog.people.com.cn/blog/s/92732  So, if there’s room in the blogosphere for the grandson of Chairman Mao, I guess there’s room for me. I’m now three weeks into my role with CAIS and, as with any new job, there’s a lot to learn and to do.  I’ll share at least some of the journey with you.  For starters, let me try to explain why I’m here.  Well, I spent 33 years policing the urban sprawl of Manchester and, latterly, the greener pastures of North Wales.  During that time I saw the lives of countless individuals and families blighted by the effects of drug and alcohol addiction.  As a police officer I believe I did my best to bring justice to those who preyed on the weak and vulnerable and to ease the lot of victims both of criminality and addiction.  However, I have always been conscious that this is, at best, just a sticking plaster on some of the acute diseases that inflict our society.  Working with CAIS therefore presents, for me, an opportunity to make a more profound impact on the scourge of addiction.  In Wales, there has never been a better time to be involved in this work.  The Welsh Assembly’s Substance Misuse Strategy articulates a progressive but realistic programme for the next ten years. http://wales.gov.uk/topics/housingandcommunity/safety/publications/strategy0818/?lang=en Here are some of the awful facts, taken from the report, that make this work essential.

Summary of Harms