What's going on

Everyday I listen to the radio or watch TV. I hear what the government are trying to do and it's this word trying that really bugs me. After nine years in office shouldn't we now be seeing some kind of reward from all the governments schemes. I think quite a few have been executed since 1997 how many have worked well that's another story. I was just wondering how many new deals have be adopted by this government and how many people are better off. Me, I'm lucky. I was once homeless and illiterate. Now I have a home and I can read and write better than most. It wasn't the government that got me off the streets and in to education and that really does bug me because when this government were elected they were supposed to be the caring ones. Even when they got into office this time. They said there where many things they would do for the socially excluded and although they have taken people off the streets they are stuck in temporary accommodation on a semi permanent basis as there is no where else for them to go and some of these people don't have drug and alcohol problems. It costs more to keep someone in a hostel than their own place I think it costs about the same to keep someone in prison and to be truthful there not a lot of difference only that in some hostels you are allowed out. Now I have said my piece I can relax and watch a bit of tennis shame about Tim.

As per usual I was just thinking how lucky some of us really are because I know tonight I have some food and a bed. In some countries they don't have that luxury. In this country it seems to be that a certain amount of homelessness is an acceptable thing but is it? Shouldn't everyone no matter what have the right to live somewhere that's safe and warm I meet these MPs that want to change the system so that everyone has the right to a roof over their head. It just seems to me that listening is not enough and while we use the same methods of trying to cure this problem over and over again. It will just not work. Governments are fond of rehashing scheme's and now they are planning to reform welfare I see a huge rise in people becoming homeless because socially excluded people are not in any plans a government makes. The fact that homeless charities ect: exist is testament to that . Now the government are relying on charities more and more and I wonder is this the right way forward? Why since the 60s have we still got so much of a problem and why do we still have to have people lobby MPs to say look this is still the problem? Funny but I always thought one voice could not make a difference but now I think many voices saying the same thing works really well

Book info

Many of you want to know about my poetry book from the emails I am getting, so here goes. My book is plain and simple poetry about life and I have tried to keep it real. But I have also included a few of my old ones which are my favorites. I write what I see and think. Sometimes there's are only substance and no rhythm and sometimes the opposite because I believe everyone has some form of poetry in them and it doesn't need to have strick giude lines. My book which I have made and printed myself costs just £3.50. Which will go towards paying for my phone and internet charges so i can keep blogging and if I sell enough I can also give some money back to crisis because when I stopped using drugs they were always there for me. So buy my book. Please send a £3.50 cheque or postal order plus a first class stamp to
Jamie McCoy
C/o crisis
66 commercial street
Aldgate
London E1 6LT
Please give it at least seven days for delivery. If you live outside UK please give it ten days. To all of you that buy my book thank you. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did writing it.

Oh by the way

I have nearly finished putting the finishing touches to my poetry book which I have made my self and called flowers in the dark. Which I hope to start selling sometime next week and I have had this idea of me doing a street performance in Covent garden with me all dressed up in eighteenth century clothes. Well I have to start somewhere.

Yesterdays meeting in portculis house opposite the houses of parliament. I thought went well. Just before the meeting it was spot the famous politician for a little while as we got there early. I spoke about most things homeless people feel and how some people become homeless, then get themselves addicted to drink and drugs. The fact that once you do bothers me as there's no light at the end of the tunnel so to speak. Also that some people who are trying go from hostel to hostel and some are just left in them until they get a place which could take some years. So when people say to me what's the solution. I have many. There is one idea I have always had because of the cost of keeping some one in a hostel. Some of the costs are sky high and because of this I have always had this thing going round in my head a long the lines of getting people into the community and instead of long term hostels or building these massive and expensive super hostels which we know sooner or later will be over crowded, lets take another approach do up these flats that nobody wants put homeless people into them that have a chance but also attach a homeless worker to their case so they can be vistited on a regular basis. Because when you're in a hostel nothing really does change that much. You're still homeless just because you are in temporary accommodation doesn't mean it ends there. The other thing I have always said is we need more people working in the homeless sector who have been through the mill because the idea of talking to someone who hasn't a clue is really off putting to someone who desperately wants to change.
I could write about this all day and put loads of ideas in to the mix as well but I wont as I have another meeting short

Oh boy

It seems that I am not having a very good month this month as last night I nearly burned down my flat. We have this new electronic key thingy and when I put the potatoes on last night
I must have left it by the ring on the stove I thought while the potatoes were cooking I could have a quick bath. Low and behold smoke filled the flat and my next door neighbor was knocking on my window. I should be pleased that no damage was done but it's going to cost me ten pounds for new key fobs but that was then this is now. Another day another dollar. Well, what can I say about things in this country? Would you say we are going through some sort of depression or something. I mean we have a government that keeps coming up with ways to get more of our money and now and again come up with a crazy idea. Is this New Labour running out of ideas or they saying we have had three terms in office now we need a rest? The question is are things any better under Labour than they were under the Conservatives. We hear Tony Blair saying we have invested more in the NHS and education but the facts say that the NHS is financial trouble. Education is now at it's lowest point and still under funded and homelessness is still there for all to see but under a different guise called hostels. So are things any better really?People still have less in their pocket today than did ten years ago. Houses still are not being built for rent by councils because of lack of funding and the ordinary man in the street feels that he might be mugged any time. What's the point he says the only thing I have gained in the last ten years is age.

Just thinking out loud

I was thinking out loud could bloggers be accused of being just another tabloid press? After all it all goes in black and white. When it comes to political blogs and blogging how far would the blogger go in getting his or her party into the limelight. We have MPs accusing one another of tabloid sensationalism and scare mongering but what if bloggers gave the real story on politics or gave you the real low down on who bonking who. I see bloggers getting the value story with no edits. Now that's what I call sensationalism but who knows how far blogging can go? Will it replace newspapers who knows? All I know is most blogs are a dam good read. Would it be good to hear the prime minister was drunk last night and was seen emptying his bladder at around ten thirty last night outside 10 downing street. An off duty policeman passing by saw this and issued an on the spot fine. Now that's a story

What's the problem? This bloody stigma

When I look about me and I sometimes feel that I don't belong here or there whether this is because I have not been part of mainstream society for quite a few years or because I am still adjusting to the fact that I am just a part of it. Things are much better for me though I am able to write when and what I want, I can talk to people and look them in the eye plus the fact that I do know that most of the time I know what I am talking about. So what's the problem you might ask? It's this stigma which still seems to be attached to me in fact to anyone that's been homeless or an addict. When we are honest and tell someone we could fall back in to our old lives or habits. This invisible neon like sign seems to come on and everyone becomes wary of us and this does become a problem for anyone getting back into the normal run of things. I have been lucky I have managed to combine everything I have done with what I am still doing but when I am out looking for work or going to interviews I sometimes feel that I shouldn't mention my past but as soon as I do wham bam it's all over. So the stigma becomes attached again. How can anyone convince someone that the past is dead and buried? Is it because we all have skeletons in our closets or is it fear that once an addict or homeless then there is no cure?

Just looking round the office

Just another day at the office

I work in a bloody office
Daily nine to five
Sometimes I scratch my head and pinch myself
Just making sure I’m that I’m very much alive.
I’m not bored just seeming less with everything I do
And I do begin to wonder
Am I living life’s big dream?
Is this all there is?
And should I do something new?
These are not the only things that weigh heavy on my mind
But when I’m leaving work
I’m never feeling right I find
So tomorrow might begin a brand new day
In my office chair
And I sit beside the window and outward I always stare.
But when my skills shine on what I do
An inner glow alights
So the days I’m feeling low
Just thinking happy thoughts
Helps me sleep at nights

Homeless and addiction

Well, I'm back. After clearing up my flat and trying to make it look like home again was a real bummer as nothing looks the same and where you had things there are empty place but never mind. Anyway I was talking to some people who said most addicts leave home because of their addiction which in some cases this is true but not all. Some people become homeless and then through mixing with the wrong crowds become addicts. Which does lead to long term homelessness. How do we stop this from happening is the question? Most people think that by just sticking them in rehabs and giving them a little support afterwards is the answer but its not the b all and end all. The problem with addiction is it's never ending. It's just like being an alcoholic, one drink and all the good work and efforts put into to fighting the addiction goes up in smoke. The problem is keeping someone off drugs and the only way I see to do that is teaching them the value of themselves because most addicts and alcoholics lose their real worth after a while and think they are worthless. So this is where I feel that learning and skills training comes into it's own. It's one of the long term solutions but not the only one. The other I think is once certain goals are achieved a way forward must be found to help people keep them. As I said addiction is only a small part of the homeless issue.

Making sense

When you get a think tank thinking it should be a good thing but when you get a government of individuals thinking it seems to me that they do come up with the dumbest plans of the century. The newest idea is to see if they can let councils charge for excess waste. When it should be already covered by council tax. Funny I know but what else can I say? It's another round about way of getting people to help pay for what the government don't give the councils. No wonder we are in such a mess. Don't they know the idea will not be welcome no matter what and the idea that we don't pay enough in council tax at the moment I think is insulting. I struggle to pay my bills and I am on benefit and if I had to pay more then I would find myself going without the needed things. So would most people. I am beginning to think that sense and sensibility are two different things altogether if you know what I mean. Maybe it's me that has this straight forward look on things or maybe I need to become a politician. Can you imagine me as a politician? One of the things that I have looked at very closely is tax and surely if we are falling short on things then the simplest way to correct it is 1p on the basic rate of tax because it can always be altered again at a later date. The fact that this government said that people will have more money in their pocket is proving to be untrue. As many of you know one way or another this government have succeeded in back door taxes and yet we are still falling short on the NHS and education even after higher spending. They say higher taxes would be a vote loser but I think it would be the right way to go and I believe that this way we would actually have more in our pockets eventually dispite what the government say..

Life's roller coaster

Once upon a time I thought I was the only one that had a life full of problems but now I realize that there are so many people whose life is full of them. The roller coaster of life is what living is all about I suppose. Someone asked me once why I have this permanent pained look on my face and the only answer I gave was, when I was a baby I slipped out of the doctors hands and to prevent me from landing on my head he grabbed what he thought was the umbilical cord and that's why I have a long thingy (not bragging) and permanent pain looked. Here's what I think. Whenever something bad happens in life we should not let it get to us because life is too short to let everything just slip away and if things do get on top of you, you should take time to have a sit down and think about things sometimes things are not as bad as they seem. That's what I did this morning. I have had a life where the roller coaster was always going down hill. it's only in the last few years that it started to go upwards and it has had it's ups and downs but it must go up again now. as the song says the only way is up.

It’s not fair.

As socially excluded people become more and more excluded from everyday life. What better way to show it than to have a meeting. It seems the cry of it’s not fair is becoming louder and louder as welfare reforms and benefit reforms could cripple the most vulnerable in our society. I was invited an impromptu meeting in Bristol yesterday that discussed some of the government proposals. It was hosted by some homeless people and members of the public. I was shocked by the number of people that would be affected. When I mentioned that 60% of people that are now on benefit would struggle to meet their weekly out goings and homelessness would become more of a problem everyone looked at me as if I’d gone mad. The question, why would homelessness rise was asked, so I told them of the problems and why some people became homeless. This was a nerve racking experience. I have talked to loads of people in one place before but these where ordinary working class people. Some of them I considered much more intelligent than myself. What a shame no MPs came but this was a meeting of the people but it gave me an idea. If homeless people and ordinary people can come together in Bristol to talk about what is happening and how this government is short on ideas and on its last legs. Why not London and Manchester or even Birmingham and Leeds? Maybe this is the way to tell the government to wake up and smell the coffee.

It’s happened again.

It seems I can’t leave my flat without something bad happening. I have been in my flat now for just over three years and in that time I have had three burglaries now I have had the fourth. When I got home last night I found my front windows open and inside was such a mess that I just sat down and cried like a baby. Everything I have worked so hard to get has gone and the worst part is I have no insurance anymore. I spent hours tidying up the place but it no longer feels like home. The police say this is just another in the spate of burglaries that has occurred in this area. I just can’t believe it. What does it take to stop this happening to people? I have now had to put long screws in my windows. This makes it feel more like a prison than a home. People will say life goes on but when it keeps on happening, what do you do? Keep on moving address? I don’t think so. Last night I just wanted to give it all in and go back on the streets because I just couldn’t understand why and why me all the time but this morning I’m feeling better and I am determined that it will not get the best of me. So I start all over again and try to replace the things that have gone. I have to admit this has me rather down and feeling out.

One more thought for the day

We all know it's the world cup and a host of nations are competing but wouldn't it be good to see the friendly banter on the terraces happen everyday in our own countries. It seems so strange that once we are away from either music concerts, the theater or even football matches that some of us revert to our normal everyday routine of being violent, unfriendly, sometimes obnoxious and racist. Although there is a certain amount of racsim in football. Why should it be in everyday life? Wouldn't it be great to be able to get a long with people from all nations no matter what? I have to be honest and admit that I was once blind to other peoples colour and had the misconception that to be a true English man you had to be white, speak the queens English and be born here. I believe that's racism. Now I am more tolerant to other people as I see a more multi cultural nation. Some might think me a wishful thinker and dreamer but when I see that people can get along just fine. It becomes more and more strange that for some reason, we just do not. Is this some inbred thing all humans have or is it our strange way of coping with what we perceive as unusual. Funny but as I grow older and not much wiser I think of more and more reasons for people to get along. Why not make the world a friendlier place? It beats getting killed.

An appalling site

Every so often you come across a site that does really disturb you. This was one that I just could not for the life of me understand. It was at the back of the Westminster town hall near Victoria in London. What really gets to me is the fact that the houses of parliament are just a couple of hundred yards away and the town hall is in touching distance and Westminster council pride their selves on being a caring borough. When you get scenes like this you begin to wonder. How can this happen in this country which is supposed to be wealthy and caring. This photo was taken at six o'clock on Sunday evening and he was not the only one sleeping there. The other people refused to let me photograph them. When I asked why he slept here he said that by sleeping here he was not disturbed or assaulted by anyone and he could get some sleep away from the drunks and junkies and bloody foreigners. (his own words) The smell of bins full of rotting food from the shops was so over powering and it left me wondering how on earth he could sleep there because there where pigeons and for the few minutes I was there I saw a couple of rats. After being homeless myself I could understand the need to be away from others but to sleep there would not have entered my head. So this leads me to asking the question of why there now where no outreach workers looking for the most vulnerable homeless people in certain areas of London because it was for this specific reason that outreach workers would go out and find the people that needed urgent help. There are more people living rough that need help and with nobody looking for them how can they be helped. Most homeless charities now concentrate on learning and skills because this to them seems to be the way forward as the decrease in homeless people over the last few years is quite visible but are we forgetting that there are homeless people who need a lot more than that. I come across homeless people all the time when I walk the streets at night trying to find reasons for them being there in the first place but as I notice the increase in homelessness I also notice how hidden it's becoming as I wander the back streets of London. Places you once thought you wouldn't expect to find people I am finding them. Not just single cases but in twos or threes. What is the answer to this problem? It's a question I will be pondering all this week as I go out to find out more.

Another good day for some

When I woke up on Sunday morning I thought to myself God what a day to be stuck in doors. So I made haste and started to make my flat look a bit more livable. Whilst dancing around my living room with my vacuum cleaner to the tunes of the eighties I heard that there was going to be a demo at New Scotland yard so I became the quickest house cleaner in the world. I must have set a world record for washing up, bed making and cleaning because in no time I found myself at New Scotland Yard with hundreds of protesters. It was people protesting against the polices rough house tactics of Muslims. The row over the two people arrested for terrorist offences seems to have affected quite a lot of people especially the Muslim section of this country and to be truthful I actually agree with them. My argument would be that we have already been misled over weapons of mass destruction and it seems that the same thing is once again happening but on a more public scale and if we continue to target all Muslims, some of who were born in this country. We only strengthen the terrorists hand. The police say that they had no choice but to act upon the information receive and I agree but was it necessary to go in but to go in the way they did with one man getting shot says it was an over reaction. Something is not sitting quite right about this whole thing as I believe it was first stated that it was the brother that shot first and I have heard no mention of weapons of any kind being found.

Nice day out

What a nice sunny day we had on Saturday. A day when England won their opening match in the world cup, people where out in the sun, sun bathing and I was at an open air festival at Finsbury Park. Then I went to Hyde park to watch people riding cycles in the nude I would have put some photos but I thought it was inappropriate to do so but all in all Saturday was a nice day to be out.

 

On Thursday evening I was on my way to the crisis square mile run to meet and ask people why they took part? When I came across a man lying on the ground doubled up in pain. He had cuts and bruises all over his face. It wasn't the fact that I stopped to find out if he was alright because I am not a hero. It was the fact that so many people where just walking by without a second glance or they did look and as soon as they saw the state of him. I think they automatically assumed he was either a drug addict or a drunk. I phoned an ambulance and stayed with the man for what seemed like an eternity in St Thomas's hospital. It turned out that he had been begging and was having good day and on his way to get some food a group of young louts robbed and beat him just because he was homeless and begging. From what I gathered this group of youths had been pestering him for an hour or so. He only went to get some food so they would leave him alone. Not many people know that there are more assaults on homeless people by ordinary working class people out on the town than on normal people. I have experienced it myself when sleeping rough in Westminster. Anyway David whose name I now know. Is now back on the streets and is doing ok. He is now trying to get somewhere to stay. I gave him a couple of addresses where he could get help and advice. It was all I could do at the time. It's not a new thing as this does happen quite often but you never hear about it on the news. In fact you never hear of a homeless man dying on the streets in the cold weather unless it's from violence.
We live in a violent society where the old and even young children are afraid to go out in case they get stabbed or shot and it does seem to be getting worse. This is not how we want children to grow up and we centainly don't want a society built on fear. We must try to end this now before it gets any worse but the question on most people's lips is how and why is this happening? Does it have a lot to do with drugs and alcohol or over crowded run down estates and poverty or does it have most to do with what seems to be lack of parenting or is it that the law is not tough enough. Tough questions to ask but I'm not sure that the answers are all here. Most robberies of this sort on done on the spare of the moment and there is no thought consequences so my question is should the law be made tougher so that people have to think of the consequences before they act. Its alright for people to say prisons are over crowded and they take the most violent off the streets but when its happening all over the country should something positive be done. I think I am right when I say when there was capital punishment there was less violence. I am not saying bring back capital punishment because I think innocent people could be put to death wrongly. What I am saying is we need to be a society that will not tolerate violence. No matter what.

Birthday boy

A friend of mine has his birthday today. I think he’s one hundred and twenty three years old and was there at the scene as the Hansard society’s first member wrote the first words in their parliamentary records. (Only joking) Happy Birthday Barry I hope you have a great day and many more of them and don’t do anything I would do as it only gets you into trouble. Remember every year you grow a little older but it nice knowing you did it with pride. oh by the way he's young and free.

A roof is not enough

For once I have to agree with John bird (founder of the big issue ) when he says however much we exercise our minds on the subject of homelessness. Speculation based on opinion and feelings will change nothing.
We can speculate all we want but when you have homelessness in plain view every single day. It's proof that we do have a problem. I think it's strange that for the size and population of this country we have this crisis. The government would have us believe that we do not have a crisis any more. The fact that the government have reduced rough sleepers seems to always come to the fore when anyone mentions homelessness but it takes more than a just a roof over someone's head. The high cost of keeping someone in hostels ect: does give grave cause for concern because this government have problems already with education and the NHS and even house building. You can't keep putting money into something that will eventually collapse and we all know it will at some stage. Plus if someone in the hostel system does get work the rent is far to high so that option goes out the window. The idea that this government are considering building bigger hostels is another worry.
Once people are off the streets teaching them to cope with the normal things of life like reading and writing, getting into work, running a flat ie: paying bills ect, cooking: should be the main stay of any hostel because sooner or later they have to move on. The fact that most homeless people have never had a place they could call home is a stumbling block in itself. Imagine not being able to cook or imagine the only thing that keeps you up to date with events is the TV or you can't read a bill because simply you can't read or write or never having had a job because you were homeless and had problems like drugs and alcohol. It seems to me that more time is spent on getting people off the streets than what is really needed. It's funny but we the people on the homeless panel have met MPs from all parties and they have listened to us but will they act on what we have said who knows we can only keep talking to them until they do. Our agenda is to keep trying to get the government to actually do something positive and not put anymore sticking plasters on the issue of homelessness. The fact that the new in words being banded about is socially excluded. This covers a whole multitude of sins. The idea that what works for one group should work for another may in theory be ok but I am positive this is not the way forward because there are too many pitfalls in thinking this way. I myself have gone through great changes in my life and still have this stigma of ex-druggie and ex-homeless which does annoy me when I go for job interviews but I have had to fight for everything that I have achieved. If it had not been for a charity I would not have learned much more than being just able to read and write I would probably have still been learning the simplest of things.

Lesser people

I was thinking about how homeless people feel sometimes and came up with this

Alone am I.
Am I a lesser man?
Sometimes I think I am
I am on the streets
Living life but rough
No hope of change
Well, not real soon
This is for now is my normality
I'd like to know
Who stole my dreams?
Who stole the silver from my moon?

Am I normal?
Am I just a girl?
Sometimes I think I'm not
No home
No bed
No where to rest my head
I've only hopes and dreams of what could be
For me right now.
Nothing is my reality.

Are we here or there?
Is this our normal permanent world?
Have our futures been preordained
Or are we a little kind of strange
Not meant to be.
Are we not meant to see
Sunlight in our eyes
The moon and stars to wish upon
Can someone truly say?
Our futures changed today

Just thinking once again

I was just thinking about the world and things that are going on around me and how sad it is to hear about people drifting from one place to another with no end insight. Just because they lack the skills to cope. Nobody really knowing what is happening to them or what’s going on in their lives because every person has a different reason for being where they are. I was listening to a conversation and someone said that if you’re clever and use the noggin, you won’t make the mistakes that have led some people to take drugs and drink or become homeless. This is really a load of rubbish because even rich people go off the rails. Tomorrow is the crisis square mile run. I used to think it was just about raising money for crisis and its crazy plans. Which by the way are no longer crazy. I have realised it’s about a lot more. I think it’s more about people than charity. It about showing that people do care. That by helping when and where they can it does make a difference. So all that take part good luck and have fun. I will be there taking photos for my blog and asking questions.

Shocking

a Conservative MP want home owners to be able to use tazers to protect their homes and family. The fact that people say the law favors the criminal would support this but I would think this a dangerous move by any government body to make law, as the climate of violence we are seeing today would only allow tazers to be used by criminals and yobs. Imagine a new craze that sweeps across the country where tazers are being used like happy slapping. Personally I think it is a bad idea because we have this thing called the use of force and in many cases if more than one burglar were caught in the act you could only shock one of them at a time and it could still lead to the violence you were trying to stop in fact it maybe even worse. The feeling that criminals get a smooth ride in prison could be a factor. I asked a passer by while I was waiting for a bus this morning what he thought of prisoners and prisons. They get more than one meal a day I have to struggle to just one and I am lucky if I get that also I don't see why they don't make prison life a little more intolerable. Such as taking away TV's after all prison isn't meant to be a holiday. They are meant to teach criminals not to be criminals something we are not doing in this day and age. This is food for thought.

These are only a few of the people sleeping rough in parks, in shop doorways,

 

 

 

Homeless not hopeless

It’s been one of those weeks when you know the holiday is over and you have rested enough and are now raring to go. So after reading and deciding to leave what she wrote on my blog because I strongly believe that there are two sides to every story and both should be told, oh and by the way I don’t pick my nose before I go out.
So this morning I snuck out of my own house while the girlfriend was snoring her head off. I decided that this morning I was going to take some photos of homeless people actually sleeping and if they were awake to get some insight as to why they had become homeless. I did get a shock when I saw just how many rough sleepers there now was. There is a definite rise in the number of homeless sleeping in the west end but there is also a rise in the number sleeping on the outskirts of the west end. The borough high street there where seven rough sleepers and in a park near me there was another three. As I walked further and past waterloo station there was another ten. Then as entered the west end I started to take some photos as you can see. What surprises me is that this government say the number of rough sleepers has been reduced but from what I have seen and what some of the public are now beginning to see is another rise in people sleeping rough but as someone said every summer there is a rise.
The trouble is when you become homeless it might seem that it’s okay for a short while but when you start to become invisible to people I think that’s when the trouble really starts and the vicious homeless cycle gets a grip. You may have been innocent when you first slept rough but I can guarantee that surviving the streets changes everyone. Many homeless don’t want to be put in a bracket of sad and lost that’s why so many hide the fact that they are homeless but if you have an addiction it’s much harder to do and this is were the publics perception get hazy and they think most homeless people are either druggies or drinkers. The fact that I say to people, it doesn’t matter what sort of background you come from you can become just as vulnerable. This is why I argue with a lot of people that say poverty is the cause of all this suffering. It’s only one of the causes. There are so many different reasons. So when you pigeon hole homeless people in one category I think they are being let down. After meeting with so many MPs last year and the same questions being asked I think it’s time for homeless people to stand up and say this is what exactly needs to be done. Then it’s about getting that message to as many people that matter. The words that were used this morning as I interviewed a couple of homeless people were we are homeless not hopelesss.

It’s me or that bloody computer

It’s about time I got to write about something on Jamie’s blog as it seems he has written about me on more than one occasion in the past. So while he’s asleep I think I will. Firstly let me say I am not the nagging female he has led people to believe and I do not moan and groan. Well, not all the time and although I admit I do have some faults but they are not as bad as Jamie makes out but doesn’t everybody? Jamie does and there are many. Here’s, one you probably don’t know about he picks his nose just before going out to make sure there are no hangers on. That’s his excuse.
What I love about Jamie is his attitude towards things. It never ceases to amaze me but sometimes I think he puts a little too much into what he’s doing and yes he does sometimes forget that I am around when he’s at his computer. This by the way seems to be seven days a week and at least eight hours a day that's why we keep spliting up. So this week I put my foot down and gave him an ultimatum, me or that bloody computer. To my surprise he switched it off and hasn’t touched it for a week. Although I know he wanted to write something he has resisted. So if you have missed what he has to say? You can blame me.
I have wanted to write something for ages but Jamie wouldn’t let me but he’s asleep right now and I’m taking my chance while I can, anyway he says he wants guest bloggers or whatever you call them to write at least once a week. So I am going to be the first as long as he doesn’t delete it.
I agree with him on most things but there is one thing we constantly disagree on and that is the cause of poverty and homelessness because I believe that both go together in most cases but Jamie believes these are two separate issues although as he puts it they do eventually connect. Jamie has this way of making sense when he’s talking to you and sometimes I feel a little lost but when I look at him and think about the kind of life he has led. I am amazed that he has made it this far and how smart he really is. It just proves what he's been trying to say for a year now. That by giving people real help and a real chance to change does work. My own feelings are, it shouldn't matter what it cost at this moment in time because everyone is someones son or daughter and by trying to change things now will only help keep down the costs in the future. As you have probably guessed by now I am the long suffering girlfriend Suzanne