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