A row at home... and then I was living on the streets

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Forum - Opinion in the West End Extra -

Philip Wood was in his 50s, having worked all his life, when he discovered how easy it was to end up homeless. This is his story

IF you had told me when I was growing up in Northumber­land that one day I would move to London, and end up living rough on the streets, I’d never have believed you. I still can’t believe it now myself sometimes.
I’m a trained construction worker, and with all the building sites around, including the Olympic village at Stratford, it should mean plenty of work for me. The problem is I can’t get a job if I’ve nowhere to live.
I’ve worked all my life since I was 18. Two years ago I was living happily enough with my partner in Islington. Then there was a big row and finally I moved out.
The trouble was that it was after I left my partner with just my bag that I realised I didn’t know anyone I could stay with. I had no bank account, and I had nowhere to go. My parents back in Northumberland were both dead.
So I contacted Islington’s emergency homeless department. I was told that, as I wasn’t an alcoholic or a drug addict and I did not have mental health problems, I didn’t qualify for help. I was really on my own.
During the day I live on the streets with other homeless people. At one point this summer there were about 20 of us sitting out in the parks keeping each other company. In the winter we often head for the warmth of a Tube station or I sit in a library and read the newspapers. My favourite spot at night is the warm-air vents outside Angel Tube station. It was where a rough sleeper died of hypothermia a few weeks ago because he fell asleep after they turned the heating off.
If I’m lucky and they are not fully booked, I’ll get a bed in a night shelter. I’ve stayed in shelters in Islington, Camden and, of course, the shelter at St Martin in the Fields in Trafalgar Square. With more people on the streets there are just not enough shelters. You arrive at the shelter at 7pm and they give you a bed and a meal and you get a shower. But you are out again by 7am the next day and then you are back on the streets.
The rain is my worst enemy as it gets into your bones. I got stabbed a few weeks ago but I managed to grab the knife and hand it over to a passing policeman. Fortunately, I wasn’t badly hurt and didn’t need hospital treatment. I’ve seen rough sleepers passing out or getting sick, often because of the drink. I saw one bloke having a minor heart attack in the street.
Some of the public will treat you with disdain. They obviously think that if they can get a job and a place to live then why can’t we.
But people can also be very kind and sympathetic. You get the occasional bag of food from a restaurant or someone might bung you a tenner.
I don’t like criticising the housing authorities because I know they have limited funds.
But it shouldn’t be difficult to provide temporary accommodation for rough sleepers like me to allow us to get our lives back together.
It just requires a bit of imagination.
What about turning the old bendy buses into single people accommodation?
• Philip Wood, 53, a construction worker, has been homeless for two years,
sleeping rough in Islington, Camden and the West End.